Rockland County Only Ongoing Measles Outbreak In U.S.: CDC

The Centers for Disease Control reported Monday that the only current measles outbreak in the United States is in Rockland County.

On Sept. 3, health officials declared that the measles outbreak in New York City had ended. On Sept. 12, the measles outbreak in El Paso, TX was declared over. On Sept. 19, it was determined that the measles outbreak in Wyoming County, NY had ended, the CDC reported.

All the outbreaks have been linked to travelers who brought measles back from other countries such as Israel, Ukraine, and the Philippines, where large measles outbreaks are occurring.

As of Sept. 19, 1,241 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 31 states. According to the CDC:

• This is the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1992.
• More than 75% of the cases this year are linked to outbreaks in New York.
• Measles is more likely to spread and cause outbreaks in U.S. communities where groups of people are unvaccinated. The majority of cases are among people who were not vaccinated against measles.
• Measles can cause serious complications. As of Sept. 19, 131 of the people who got measles this year were hospitalized, and 65 reported having complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis.

As of Sept. 18, there were 312 confirmed reported cases of measles in Rockland County. That includes 16 historical cases of measles that were added to the total at the end of August. These cases occurred between early February and mid-May 2019.

No cases have been added in Rockland since the end of August.

Measles has not been just a children's disease in the county — 20 percent of Rocklanders who have caught the measles since October 2018 were over the age of 19.

Age groups for the confirmed measles cases in Rockland County as of Aug. 26:

• Less than 1 year old: 11.5%
• 1-3 years: 26.3%
• 4-6 years: 14.7%
• 7-18 years: 27.9%
• 19+ years: 19.6%

Vaccination rates for confirmed measles cases in Rockland County as of Aug. 26:

• 79.5% have had 0 MMRs
• 5.8% have had 1 MMR
• 3.2% have had 2 MMRs
• 11.5% have unknown status