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NEW YORK – The United States has confirmed 695 measles cases this year, the highest incidence since the country said it eliminated the virus in 2000, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. .
The outbreak of the contagious disease is mainly related to major outbreaks in Washington State and two in New York that began last year, said the agency in a statement.
"The longer these outbreaks last, the greater the chance for measles to implant in the US in a sustainable way," the agency's statement warned.
Although the disease was eliminated from the country in 2000, which means that the virus was no longer present all year, outbreaks still occur through travelers from countries where measles is still common, says the CDC.
On Wednesday, the number of measles cases exceeded the 667 cases reported in 2014, the highest annual number since the elimination in 2000.
The biggest outbreak occurred in New York, where officials said Wednesday that 390 cases have been registered since October, mostly among children of Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn.
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