Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

New York Measles Outbreak Halted Among Orthodox

A measles outbreak among New York’s Orthodox Jewish community has been curtailed, according to officials for the city’s department of health.

From March to June, 58 cases of measles were reported in Williamsburg and Boro Park in Brooklyn, two heavily populated Orthodox Jewish communities, among children and adults who were not vaccinated or had denied vaccination. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene worked with yeshivas, rabbis and other community groups to report cases and encourage vaccination.

The outbreak resulted in one case of pneumonia and two hospitalizations. Measles is a viral infection that can also cause miscarriages, brain inflammation, hospitalization and even death.

The collaboration between city health officials and the Orthodox community on measles prevention was notably more cooperative than other recent efforts between the two parties. Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and the DOHMH are currently involved in litigation revolving around the city’s regulation of metzitzah b’peh, a controversial oral suction cleansing technique used after circumcision, which can transmit herpes. Pro-MBP advocates claim the city’s medical evidence is false and that the regulation infringes on religious rights.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.