A county in NY has declared a state of emergency after more than 100 people have been diagnosed with measles.
Rockland County, a woody and undulating region of sprawling houses 30 miles northwest of New York City, has become the first district in the United States to demand that all unvaccinated children be kept at home.
"Last year, not just one but seven unvaccinated travelers diagnosed with measles entered our county between October 1 and October 17 leading to 153 confirmed cases", he said. Of those, 48 have occurred in 2019.
Rockland County declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and said the ban would remain in place for 30 days or until unvaccinated children get the MMR shot.
Two weeks ago, a federal judge in Rockland County barred 50 unvaccinated students from attending school for a minimum of three weeks in an effort to stop the outbreak from spreading. The parents had argued that Commissioner Patricia Schnabel Ruppert's order to keep unvaccinated children in specific zip codes with vaccination rates of under 95 percent out of school violates religious objections to vaccinations.
"Every action we have taken since the beginning of this outbreak has been created to maximize vaccinations and minimize exposures".
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Rockland County, New York is taking a drastic step to curtail its ongoing outbreak of measles.
"Our health inspectors have been hung up on and told not to call again". County officials say the only exemption from vaccinations are people who can not receive it for medical reasons. However, parents of unvaccinated children "will be held accountable" if they are found to be in violation, Day said, and could face a class B misdemeanor charge. "They've been told, 'We're not discussing this, do not come back, ' when visiting the homes of infected individuals as part of their investigations", Day said. The emergency declaration, by law, comes with that assigned.
The order does not apply to people who are older than 18 because "we did not want to prevent anyone from going to work", but unvaccinated adults are also encouraged to get vaccinated.
"If it seems to be helpful, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if other states in the midst of a measles outbreak would consider it", said Daniel Salmon, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. So far there have been 153 cases in this outbreak, the largest of a number of outbreaks now underway in the United States. However, other pockets of the county also have low vaccination rates, making them vulnerable.
"This is a public health crisis and it is time to sound the alarm".
Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. "I just don't understand why people aren't [getting the vaccine].Whatever parents want to do with their kids, that's their problem, until it affects mine".
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