Measles Breaks Out in New York and New Jersey

Public health officials are scrambling to contain measles outbreaks in at least three areas of New York and New Jersey.

The largest outbreak has occurred in Rockland County, New York, where 53 cases have been confirmed. In New Jersey, six cases have been reported in Ocean County. And in Brooklyn, at least 17 children have been diagnosed in the Williamsburg and Borough Park neighborhoods. No deaths have been reported thus far, and health officials are working to treat those infected and prevent the highly-contagious virus from spreading further.

The earliest cases in New York appeared in early October among children who'd returned from visits to Israel, where a large outbreak is currently underway.  

To stem the spread of the disease, officials in New York and New Jersey are asking residents to check their vaccination status. More than 6,000 MMR vaccines have been administered in Rockland County since the outbreak started in early October. 

"This is considered a large outbreak," says Rockland County's health commissioner, Dr. Patricia Shnabel Ruppert. "We are trying to contain it - not only with the vaccinations, but we're also requiring schools to exclude children if they're not immune and they have had a case within their school." 

In Brooklyn, where the disease has largely impacted the Orthodox Jewish community, leaders are strongly urging members to have themselves and their children vaccinated. 

Anyone who believes they may have contracted measles (check here for typical symptoms) are encouraged to first call a healthcare provider before going to a hospital or doctor's office where they may infect others.

New Jersey's department of health has released a list of locations around Lakewood where people may have been exposed.

In addition to the large outbreak in Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Israel, the virus has also spread across Europe, with over 41,000 cases of measles and 40 deaths reported so far this year.

In the US, as of early October, there were 142 individual cases confirmed in 25 states and Washington, DC, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention. A recent study in The Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that a 2013 outbreak in New York City was the result of parents who'd refused or delayed vaccination.