Measles Outbreak In Brooklyn Orthodox Neighborhoods Declared Over
A sign warns people of measles in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg on April 19, 2019 in New York City. Image by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
(JTA) — The measles outbreak concentrated in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in New York City is considered over.
There have been no new infections over the last two incubation periods, signaling the end of the outbreak, city health officials said on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.
This means that an emergency order mandating vaccines will be lifted, according to the report.
The order required people in those neighborhoods to be vaccinated or pay fines of up to $1,000.
New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot called on New Yorkers to continue get their children immunized, however.
“Staying up to date on vaccines is the best way for people to protect the health and safety of their friends, family and neighbors,” Barbot told the AP.
The outbreak began in October of 2018 and was mostly concentrated in Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn. There were 654 cases reported up to Tuesday, which is the most in 30 years, according to the report.
In June, New York State lawmakers revoked the religious and personal-belief exemptions for vaccines. Unvaccinated students have 14 days from the start of school to prove they received the first dose of each immunization.
The Brooklyn outbreak has been tied to an unvaccinated child who contracted the disease during a trip to Israel.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
