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The number of measles cases in the United States this year has reached its highest level since 1994, according to a new report released Monday.
This is the highest since the disease was declared eliminated in the United States.
So far in 2019, 704 cases have been reported, breaking the previous record of 667 cases in 2014, according to the weekly report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The agency said that the majority of those affected had not been vaccinated, resulting in unprecedented spread of the disease throughout the country.
There are outbreaks in Butte, Los Angeles and Sacramento counties in California, Rockland County in New York state, New York and the states of Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and Washington.
There are individual cases of measles in 22 states.
Last week, two Los Angeles universities were quarantined due to outbreaks on their campuses.
The highest number of cases has been reported in New York, where an epidemic has been reported in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods.
New York City has imposed a mandatory vaccination order on residents.
According to the CDC, about one to two thousand people with measles will die, but this disease has not caused death in the United States since 2015.
The issue of vaccinations has sparked a political debate in Washington and US President Donald Trump has voiced his stance against vaccinations.
However, with the recent epidemic leading to the highest number of cases in 25 years, the president has changed his stance on the issue, calling for immunization.
"They have to be vaccinated, the vaccines are so important, it's going really well now, they have to be vaccinated," Trump told reporters last week.
US authorities have stated that the transmission of measles between people was eliminated in 2000.
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