Measles: More Cases Reported In CA As Numbers Increase Nationwide

Nearly 100 more measles cases have been reported in the United States — including some in California — since the last time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its numbers for 2019. According to the CDC, through April 11, there have been 555 measles cases reported in 20 states in 2019. Just a week earlier, the CDC reported that through April 4, 2019, there were 465 measles cases reported in the country.

By Wednesday, April 17, the number of confirmed cases of measles reported in California thus far in 2019 had increased to 23, according to the California Department of Public Health. Thirteen of those cases are associated with outbreaks, CDPH officials said Thursday, with two California measles outbreaks linked to patients with international travel.

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 three adult cases; 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.)

In a measles outbreak in Butte County, California — one of six outbreaks nationwide the CDC is monitoring — three more measles cases were reported Friday, April 19 by county health officials, according to news reports. Once confirmed by state health officials, the additional Butte County cases would bring the California total to 26.

Other outbreaks the CDC is monitoring are in Rockland County, New York; New York City; Washington state; New Jersey; and Michigan.

The outbreaks the CDC is monitoring are linked to travelers who brought back the disease from other countries like Israel, Ukraine and the Philippines.

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Measles cases in just the first quarter of 2019 are fast approaching the 2014 figure, when the highest number of cases was recorded over the past 10 years. In the entirety of 2014, the CDC says there were 667 measles cases.

To combat the increase in measles cases, local health officials have been taking action to prevent the further spread of the highly contagious but completely preventable disease. In New York City, officials have said that in certain zip codes where the outbreak is occurring, parents should not send their unvaccinated children to school until the outbreak is over. Last week, New York City health officials mandated that every person in the designated zip codes get a vaccine within 48 hours or face a $1,000 fine. An effort by city officials to educate residents in the affected zip codes has resulted in over 7,000 people receiving the MMR vaccine as of March.

Officials in Rockland County, New York, have also announced stepped up efforts to fight the spread of measles.

The outbreak in Michigan has been linked to New York City, CNN reported on Tuesday. According to CNN, a man who traveled from New York to southeast Michigan didn’t know that he was contagious and all 38 other cases in southeast Michigan have been linked to him.

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

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.

Reporting and writing from Patch editors Anna Quinn and Lanning Taliaferro was used in this article.