Rockland Declares Measles Outbreak Over

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — The measles outbreak in Rockland County is officially over. Rockland County Executive Ed Day and Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert made the announcement Wednesday.

It's been more than a month since any new cases of measles were added to the county's total number of confirmed cases — 312 since the outbreak began Oct. 1, 2018.

The Rockland outbreak was mostly geographic, concentrated in the Ultra-Orthodox communities where vaccination rates are low. It mostly affected children — 80 percent of affected people were under 19 years old. And it mostly affected the unvaccinated — officials said yesterday that 92 percent of the local cases never had received or had documentation of receiving the vaccine.

The outbreak led to a massive public health effort.

“Almost 1,200 residents during the outbreak period were actively monitored to help contain the outbreak," Dr. Ruppert said.

Rockland was the last community with an active measles outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control. 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. As of Sept. 19, 1,241 individual cases of measles were confirmed in 31 states in 2019.

According to Science News, New York state health officials are still monitoring the situation. New York's measles outbreak, based but not limited to Rockland County and New York City, is the longest-running since the disease was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000.

And if a virus like measles is going around for a year, it is considered endemic. So public health officials proud of that milestone are keeping an eye out for new cases before Oct. 2, the magazine reported.

Watch the Rockland County announcement here:

To prevent future outbreaks, the health department continues to offer MMR, along with flu, and other required vaccinations. Staying up-to-date with your measles vaccination is the best way to protect yourself, your family, and the community, especially those who cannot get vaccinated because they are too young or have specific health conditions.