The United States sees the biggest measles outbreak since 2000: NPR

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 695 cases of measles in 22 states.

"This is the largest number of cases reported in the United States since the elimination of measles from that country in 2000," according to a statement from the CDC released Wednesday night.

The agency attributed the high number of cases primarily to some major epidemics – one in the state of Washington and two others in New York and in the state of New York. The epidemics of New York are among the largest and longest since 2000.

"The longer these epidemics last, the greater the chance for measles to implant in the US in a sustainable way," said the CDC.

Health and Social Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement that the increase in the number of measles cases was "preventable".

"Measles is not a safe childhood disease, but a highly contagious, potentially life-threatening disease," he said. "We are able to safely protect our children and our communities.Vaccines are a very effective and safe public health solution to prevent this disease.Medicide vaccines are among the most studied medical products and we proceeded to their safety, established for several years in some of the largest vaccine studies ever undertaken. "

Azar said the CDC is ready to help local public health departments monitor and respond to outbreaks.

The measles epidemics were largely imported by unvaccinated travelers who were exposed to the disease in another country and returned to the United States where they exposed other unvaccinated persons. If a community is highly vaccinated, the epidemics are minimal or do not occur at all.

"However, once measles is in an under-vaccinated community, it becomes difficult to control the spread of the disease," said the CDC.

One of these communities is in New York, where there is a lot of misinformation about the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. The CDC said some organizations in the country were deliberately spreading "inaccurate and misleading information about vaccines".

The states reporting measles cases are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York , Oregon, Texas, Tennessee and Washington.

The CDC will release new numbers on measles outbreaks on April 29 as part of its campaign to promote the benefits of immunizing children who save lives.