Two of the patients have been pregnant women
WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) — The number of measles cases in New York City has risen to 390, the health department said Wednesday.
Of those cases, 323 (83 percent) have been in Williamsburg (ZIP codes 11205, 11206, 11211, 11249), where an emergency order for people to be vaccinated against measles has been in place since April 12. Since the city last week began issuing summonses for not complying with the order, 12 people have received summonses. They face a $1,000 fine if the summons is upheld at a hearing and a $2,000 fine for failure to respond to the summons or appear at the hearing.
“We have now identified two expectant mothers who have contracted measles,” Commissioner of Health for New York City Oxiris Barbot, M.D., said in a statement. “These cases are stark reminders of why New Yorkers must get vaccinated against the measles as soon as possible.”
“Currently, the outbreak remains intensely focused in Williamsburg where vaccination rates must continue to improve. While we’ve seen a few cases in people out of the Orthodox Jewish community, all but one of these individuals were exposed in Williamsburg and Borough Park and none of these have resulted in sustained transmission, mainly due to the power of herd immunity afforded by the high vaccination rates outside of the Williamsburg epicenter of this outbreak,” Deputy Health Commissioner Demetre Daskalakis, M.D., M.P.H., said in a statement.
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
More Information: CDC
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