Measles Outbreak: Six Cases In Orange County

ORANGE COUNTY, NY — Measles has broken out in Orange County (an outbreak is defined as three or more linked cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control). The county Department of Health is advising residents that as of Monday there are six confirmed cases in the county, three in children.

County health officials have ordered that un- or under-vaccinated students may not attend one affected school during the outbreak. The Health Department is working closely with the school and individuals have been notified, according to a press release.

Also, the county will hold a free vaccination clinic on Friday.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease. How contagious? An un-vaccinated or -immune person who shares close space with an infected person who sneezes or coughs has a 90 percent chance of contracting the illness.

The measles virus lives in the nose and throat mucous of an infected person. It is hearty, and can live for up to two hours in an airspace where an infected person coughed or sneezed. And people who have measles can spread it from four days before a rash appears to four days after it has cleared.

The best way to prevent measles is vaccination. Widespread vaccination programs caused the CDC to prematurely declare measles eliminated in the United States by 2000.

Some parents refuse to vaccinate their children amid incorrect claims around the world linking the vaccines to autism. The CDC and global health agencies like the World Health Organization recommend that children one year old and over receive two doses of measles-rubella or measles-mumps rubella.

Globally, measles cases saw a 30 percent uptick in 2017 and killed an estimated 110,000 people, according to the WHO.

More than half all the measles cases in the United States in 2018 are in New York, most in neighboring Rockland County.

In Rockland, as the outbreak worsened this fall, officials began recommending that children as young as six months start the vaccination process. They also warned that people born before 1957, who have always been considered immune, could get at least a mild case of measles if exposed in this outbreak.

The Orange County Health Department will be holding its free clinic to administer MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine to non-immune individuals aged 12 months and older:

• Date: Friday, December 21, 2018
• Time: 9 AM – 11 AM
• Location: 124 Main St., Goshen, NY (2 nd Floor)

Register here first.

Individuals who lack immunity or who are not sure if they have been vaccinated are at risk of developing measles. Symptoms of measles include a fever, rash, cough, conjunctivitis and/or runny nose. Symptoms usually appear in 10-12 days after exposure, but may appear as early as seven days and may take as long as 21 days.

People who become ill should contact their primary care provider by phone or the Orange County Department of Health at (845) 291-2330 before seeking care to avoid exposing others to illness.

Image via CDC

SEE ALSO:

• Measles Outbreak: Confirmed In 25 Other States As Well As NY
  
• Measles Outbreak: Nine Rockland Yeshivas Face Fines
  
• Rockland County Measles Cases Rise To 95