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International travel has transmitted the measles virus to the Jewish Orthodox communities of New York and New Jersey and Washington State, according to two new reports from officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health services published today. Weekly reports on morbidity and mortality (MMWR).
In addition, the Oklahoma authorities reported the first case of the year for the state, while Washington and Pennsylvania added to the total cases.
Low vaccination rates in NY, NJ
The first MMWR report in detail the epidemics in the religious communities of Rockland County (New York) and Ocean County (New Jersey). In both epidemics, unvaccinated travelers reported recent trips to Israel, where an epidemic of about 3,150 cases of measles is ongoing, the authors said.
Since October 1, 2018, New York has recorded 242 measles cases, including 206 in Rockland County and 36 in surrounding areas. The median age of patients is 5 years old. In the areas affected by the outbreak, measles immunization coverage at school was 77%. Since the beginning of the outbreak, Rockland County has administered more than 19,000 doses of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
In New Jersey, officials said 33 cases of measles had been confirmed in an Orthodox community from October 17 to November 30, 2018. The average age of patients in this outbreak was 10 years. Although this outbreak was declared over in January, Ocean County now has a second outbreak of the virus, which began in January.
"Health departments and clinicians need to be aware of the multiple measles outbreaks going on in the world and travelers need to have evidence of immunity against measles," the authors said.
The return of measles in Clark County, Wash.
In another the second MMWR report, the authors describe a measles outbreak in Clark County, in the state of Washington, which began on the last day of 2018.
As of March 28, 2019, measles had been confirmed in 71 residents of Clark County. The rash occurred from December 30, 2018 to March 13, 2019. Seventy-three percent of patients were children under 10 years of age and 61 (86%) were not vaccinated.
The original case was a 10-year-old unvaccinated boy, recently arrived from Ukraine. He presented to an emergency care facility with measles symptoms on December 31, 2018.
Households and churches accounted for most of the transmission sites, said the authors.
"Clark County has not experienced a measles outbreak since 2011, when three cases were confirmed.Since 2013, the county's vaccination rates have remained below 10% to 14%. the state average (88%), "concluded the authors.
New cases in Oklahoma, Washington, Pennsylvania
Although the New York and New Jersey epidemics are among the highest in the United States, several other states report viral activity this week.
Oklahoma officials have confirmed a case of measles in Okmulgee County, the first in the state since May 2018.
"Measles has been identified in a person who returned to Oklahoma after traveling to various national and international destinations," the Oklahoma State Health Department (OSDH) said yesterday in a statement. . "The virus is still prevalent in many parts of the world, with epidemics in Europe, Israel, Ukraine and the Philippines that have caused illness among travelers who contracted the disease in the United States after returning home. In this case, epidemics are in progress in several states ".
Washington State officials said four new cases recorded this week had all been spending time at SeaTac Airport during their likely period of exposure or contagiousness. The cases do not appear to be related to previous epidemics in that state. Officials have now confirmed 77 cases in the state.
According to a Facebook message from the Allegheny County Health Department, Pennsylvania, two other measles cases have been reported among unvaccinated family members of a family previously having reported five cases.
"There have been no other public exposures because of family quarantine orders," officials said.
Finally, the Associated Press (AP) announced today that officials in West Virginia who were hosting this year's Scout World Scout Jamboree in Virginia expected some children to carry measles.
West Virginia has not been affected by measles since 2009, but 45,000 scouts and leaders from around the world are expected to attend the Jamboree, which runs from July 22nd to August 2nd.
See also:
May 17 MMWR study on the cases of New York
May 17 MMWR Washington case study
May 15 declaration of the OSDH
May 15 Statement by the Washington State Department of Health
May 15 Facebook page of the Allegheny County Health Department
May 16 story AP
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