Measles In California: 21 Cases Now Reported; Over 450 Nationwide

The United States has recorded more than 450 measles cases in 2019, a figure that is already the second-highest in a decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Through April 4, there have been 465 measles cases in the United States reported in 19 states, the CDC said. Over the past decade, the only year the U.S. recorded more cases than that was in 2014 when there were 667 cases.

Thus far in 2019, the 19 states where measles cases have reported to the CDC are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

In California, 21 confirmed cases of measles have been reported through April 10, including 13 outbreak-associated cases. That's up four cases since March 21 when 17 cases had been reported throughout the state.

According to the most recent measles information from the California Department of Public Health: in Los Angeles County, one child case of measles has been reported; in Placer County, two child cases and one adult case have been reported; in San Francisco County, one adult case; in San Mateo County, one child case and one adult case; in Santa Clara County, three adult cases and one child case; in Santa Cruz County, one adult case; and in Butte, Calaveras, Shasta and Tehama counties, nine cases combined (two child cases and seven adult cases) have been reported. (To address potential confidentiality concerns with small numbers, data from counties with populations less than 250,000 are not individually displayed by CDPH.)

Further, California's Butte and Santa Cruz counties are among seven jurisdictions nationwide where measles outbreaks are being monitored by the CDC. The other five jurisdictions are Rockland and New York counties in New York state; and the entire states of Washington, New Jersey and Michigan.

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Measles is a highly contagious, but completely preventable disease.

The majority of people who get measles are unvaccinated and the disease can spread when it reaches a community where groups of people haven’t received the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR vaccine, according to the CDC. The agency says more measles cases can occur if there’s an increase in the number of travelers to the United States who have measles or if the disease spreads within pockets of unvaccinated communities.

Measles spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The CDC says two doses of the MMR vaccine are about 97-percent effective in preventing measles. One dose of the vaccine is 93-percent effective in preventing measles, the agency said.

You can read more about measles via the CDC here.