Virginia Department Of Health Says “Stay Away” From Amish Auction – Due To Measles Outbreak
The Virginia Department of Health doesn’t often have opinions about Amish auctions. This week it made an exception.
In a health advisory issued Thursday, the department pointed to the Amish Parochial School Consignment Auction in Dillwyn, set for this Friday and Saturday, as an event people should skip if they’re not vaccinated against measles.
That’s because Buckingham County is in the middle of a measles outbreak. And Amish auctions draw crowds – from both the Amish and non-Amish communities.
Now it’s worth pointing out one thing – VDH does not seem to be naming the Amish as the source or epicenter of the outbreak. At the same time, Amish communities have been afflicted by measles in the past, and in some communities, vaccination rates are low.
Here’s how VDH put it:
Because measles is actively circulating in this community, VDH advises anyone who is not vaccinated against measles, is unsure of their immunity status, or is experiencing symptoms consistent with measles to skip large gatherings, crowded settings, and community events in the outbreak area until the outbreak subsides.
According to the state’s measles dashboard, the Buckingham outbreak has grown to 88 cases. That makes up the bulk of more than 100 reported across Virginia this year. Officials say there may be more unreported.
When the outbreak was declared back in May, the department wasn’t able to confirm whether the cases were tied to any specific community. The auction is on the list because it’s a large, public event in the middle of the outbreak area.
About the Auction and the Farmville Community
Parochial school consignment auctions are a staple of Amish community life. Amish schools are funded by the community rather than tax dollars. Benefit auctions like this are how a good deal of that money gets raised. So it’s an important event in the community for that reason alone.
The Buckingham County settlement is one of Virginia’s more prominent Amish communities. We usually refer to it as the Farmville community here, by the name of the nearby town. They’ve got several schools serving the families in the area, in a community of around 300 people.
Notably, Amish settlements in Ohio saw a large measles outbreak in 2014, with several hundred cases across nine counties – traced back to unvaccinated members of the community who’d carried the virus home from the Philippines. As a result, over 8,000 Amish people chose to be vaccinated.
So this is an advisory, not a cancellation. What happens this weekend is up to the people running it and those deciding whether to go. But it’s a strange thing to see in print – a state health department asking folks to think twice about attending an Amish school auction.
Attend the auction
Constant fearmongering.