Flight Attendant Who Caught Measles During NYC-Israel Flight Dies

A flight attendant on El Al airlines who caught measles four months ago on a flight between New York's JFK Airport and Israel has died, according to news reports.

The woman, an otherwise healthy 43-year-old, had developed encephalitis, one of the many serious complications that can come from measles, Israelnationalnews.com reported. She had had one dose of measles vaccine.

The company issued a statement, according to The Jewish Press: “The company is bowing its head over the death of a member of El Al’s air crew. The company will continue to act on the matter in accordance with the health ministry’s guidelines. Once the case became known, the company acted to vaccinate the company’s air crews. The company shares the deep grief of the family and will continue to accompany the family.”

The Jewish Press reported that 1,165 Israelis have contracted measles in 2019.

In the United States this year, 1,182 individual cases of measles have been reported and confirmed in 30 states as of Aug. 8, the Centers for Disease Control reports. More than 75 percent of the cases this year are linked to outbreaks in New York, mostly in Rockland County, Brooklyn and Queens.

Rockland County's count stands at 290 reported cases since October 2018. There have been 653 confirmed cases in NYC since September 2018.

Of the persons infected in Rockland:

• 78.3% have had 0 MMRs
• 5.9% have had 1 MMR
• 3.4% have had 2 MMRs
• 12.4% have unknown status