3 Confirmed Measles Cases In Jewed Lakewood, New Jersey, Officials Say

The Bobster

Senior News Editor since 2004
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/03/17/measles-lakewood-new-jersey/#comment-382612

3 Confirmed Measles Cases In Lakewood, New Jersey, Officials Say
March 17, 2019 at 11:32 am

OCEAN COUNTY, N.J. (CBS) – Health officials are warning residents of a third confirmed measles case in Lakewood, New Jersey. It’s possible the man exposed others to the highly contagious infection between March 9 and 14.

The Department of Health is considering this a new outbreak of measles in the community, but are investigating any connection between the recent cases.

Anyone who visited the following areas may have been exposed to the measles:

• Congregation Bais Tefilla, 33 East 8th St, Lakewood, NJ 08701
– March 9, 2019 from 8:30 a.m. and 1:45 p.m.
– March 10 from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
– March 11 from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
– March 13 from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
– March 14 from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Experts Recommend All Children, Teens Should Wear Life Jackets Around Any Body Of Water

• Beth Medrash Govoha, Bais Yitzchok Hall, Lakewood, NJ 08701
– March 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
– March 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
– March 13 from 12:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

• Beth Medrash Govoha, Yoshon Hall, Lakewood, NJ 08701
– March 10 from 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
– March 11 from 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
– March 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

• Beth Hamedrash Zichron Binyomin, 701 Princeton Ave, Lakewood, NJ 08701
– March 9 from 3:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
– March 10 from 9:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. (March 11)
– March 11 from 9:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. (March 12)
– March 13 from 10:45 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. (March 14)

• Lake Terrace Hall, 1690 Oak St, Lakewood, NJ 08701
– March 11 from 10:00 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. (March 12)

• Kol Shimshon, 323 Squankum Rd, Lakewood, NJ 08701
– March 12 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
– March 12 from 9:00 p.m. to 11:15 p.m.

State and local health officials are working together to identify and notify anyone who might have been exposed during the time the individual was contagious.

For more information about the measles, click here.
 
https://nypost.com/2019/04/24/two-pregnant-women-among-rising-number-of-brooklyn-measles-cases/

Two pregnant women among rising number of Brooklyn measles cases
By Julia Marsh

measles-williamsburg.jpg

A sign warns people of measles in the Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg


The number of measles cases in the Big Apple shot up to 390 Wednesday from 374 just two days earlier — and now includes two pregnant women, according to the city’s Department of Health.

“We have now identified two expectant mothers who have contracted measles,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot.

“These cases are stark reminders of why New Yorkers must get vaccinated against the measles as soon as possible. When we do not get vaccinated, we put our friends, our relatives, our neighbors, our classmates and other fellow New Yorkers at risk.”

She recommended screening for pregnant women as they’re at risk for giving birth to a baby with measles or miscarrying.

Most of the cases, 83 percent, are in the Orthodox Jewish section of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

There are a few isolated cases in other neighborhoods, but those have “not resulted in sustained transmission of measles,” the Health Department said.

Twelve individuals have been ticketed for refusing to get shots for the sometimes-fatal infection since the mayor announced a mandatory vaccination order on April 9. They face fines of $1,000 after hearings. If they don’t show up, the fine becomes $2,000.

The Health Department issued another alert to providers Wednesday urging them to tell adults who have not completed a two-dose series of the measles vaccine or do not have immunization records and live in affected areas to get the shot.

The alert also asks providers to give an extra dosage to children aged 6 to 11 months who live in the Williamsburg, Borough Park or Crown Heights areas of Brooklyn.

An extra dosage should also be considered for Orthodox Jewish children ages 6 to 11 months who reside elsewhere, according to the Health Department.

Lastly, kids ages 1 to 4 who live in neighborhoods with measles activity and have only gotten the first dosage of their measles vaccine should get the second shot.

The measles outbreak originated from people traveling to Israel, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, according to the Health Department.

Outside of the Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn other areas where residents have been diagnosed include four cases in Midwood and Marine Park, two cases in Brighton Beach, and one in Bensonhurst.

There have also been cases throughout Queens including two in Flushing, one in Far Rockaway, and one each in the Hunts Point, Longwood and Melrose sections of The Bronx.

Everyone over the age of six months who works, lives or goes to school in the Williamsburg zip codes of 11205, 11206, 11211 and 11249 must get a measles vaccination, according to the city’s April 9 emergency order.

The Health Department continues to reach out to that community with its sixth round of robocalls warning residents about the outbreak.
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/health/US-Measles-Cases-509016931.html

US Measles Cases Hit Highest Mark in 25 Years
Roughly three-quarters of this year's illnesses in the U.S. have been in New York state
By Mike Stobbe
Published Apr 24, 2019 at 4:11 PM | Updated at 6:53 PM EDT on Apr 24, 2019

Measles in the U.S. has climbed to its highest level in 25 years, closing in on 700 cases this year in a resurgence largely attributed to misinformation that is turning parents against vaccines.

"This is alarming," said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert. Not only is measles dangerous in itself, but its return could mean other vaccine-preventable diseases seemingly consigned to the past may be coming back as well, he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 695 cases had been reported in 22 states this year as of Wednesday afternoon. That was up from 626 reported Monday and makes this the nation's worst year for measles since 1994, with eight months still to go in 2019. There were 963 cases in 1994.

Roughly three-quarters of this year's illnesses in the U.S. have been in New York state, mainly in two ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and suburban Rockland County. Most of those cases have been in unvaccinated people.

The number of cases is likely to go even higher. Measles is highly contagious and can spread through the air when someone coughs or sneezes. And in recent days, Jewish families have been gathering for Passover meals. It can take 10 to 12 days for symptoms to develop.

The CDC recommends the vaccine for everyone over a year old, except for people who had the disease as children. Those who have had measles are immune.

The vaccine, which became available in the 1960s, is considered safe and highly effective, and because of it, measles was declared all but eliminated in the U.S. in 2000. But it has made comebacks since then, including 667 cases in 2014.

Public health experts say some U.S. communities have low vaccination rates because of the spread of bad information — especially the now-debunked notion that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is linked to autism — through social media, pamphlets, hotlines and other means.

"Many parents are afraid. And if you want to believe your kid doesn't need that many shots, there's plenty of places to find people who agree with you," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, former head of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. "It's not so easy to discern what is real and what is not."

Measles in most people causes fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body. However, a very small fraction of those infected can suffer complications such as pneumonia and a dangerous swelling of the brain.

According to the CDC, for every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die from it. No deaths have been recorded this year.

Measles' return may be an early warning sign of resurgences in other vaccine-preventable diseases such as rubella, chickenpox and bacterial meningitis, Schaffner said.

"Measles is the signal that in these communities where there's profound under-vaccination, they are susceptible to a whole menu of communicable diseases we thought were relegated to yesteryear," he said.

Sixty-one of the new cases were reported in hard-hit New York City.

Up to now, the biggest single U.S. measles outbreak in recent years was in 2014, when 383 cases were reported in the Amish community in nine Ohio counties. But on Wednesday, New York City officials said the outbreak centered in some of Brooklyn's Jewish neighborhoods has accounted for 390 cases since October.

"These cases are stark reminders of why New Yorkers must get vaccinated against the measles as soon as possible," New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said.

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis generally have no religious objections to vaccines and have urged their followers to get inoculated. But the "anti-vaxxer" movement has made inroads among the ultra-Orthodox, even though they have little exposure to the internet.

Earlier this month, city officials ordered mandatory vaccinations in four ZIP codes in Brooklyn and threatened fines of up to $1,000 for noncompliance. City officials said 12 people have been issued summonses.

There have been three measles-related deaths reported in the U.S. since 2000, the last one in 2015. The worst year for measles in modern U.S. history was 1958, with more than 763,000 reported cases and 552 deaths.
 
https://nypost.com/2019/04/26/first-case-of-measles-reported-in-suffolk-county/

First case of measles reported in Suffolk County
By Stephanie Pagones
April 26, 2019 | 10:24am | Updated April 26, 2019 | 10:30am

Suffolk County health officials have received their first confirmed case of the measles, authorities announced.

The woman is from outside of the US, but traveled to New York, where a laboratory in Suffolk County confirmed she was infected with the measles, according to a Department of Health Services press release from Thursday.

The victim is under the age of 50, a source familiar with the case told The Post. Additional information was not immediately available.

Heath officials warned that anyone who visited BNB Bank on East Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays from around noon to 1 p.m. Saturday might have been exposed.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, Health Commissioner Dr. James Tomarken and other top brass are expected to speak about the confirmed case at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 695 cases of the measles had been reported in 22 states — “the greatest number of cases reported in the United States since measles was eliminated from this country in 2000,” according to a press release by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The high number of cases in 2019 is primarily the result of a few large outbreaks — one in Washington state and two large outbreaks in New York that started in late 2018,” the release reads. “The outbreaks in New York City and New York state are among the largest and longest lasting since measles elimination in 2000.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency in New York City earlier this month.
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/health/US-Measles-Cases-Update-CDC-509214141.html

US Measles Cases Top 700, With Many Illnesses Among Kids
Three-quarters of those who caught the extremely contagious disease are children or teenagers
By Mike Stobbe
Published 31 minutes ago | Updated 1 minute ago

Measles continues to spread in the United States, with more than 704 cases reported so far this year in 22 states.

U.S. health officials on Monday updated the national tally. It has already eclipsed the total for any full year since 1994, when 963 cases were reported.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this year's count includes 44 people who caught the disease while traveling in another country. Some of them triggered U.S. outbreaks, mostly among unvaccinated people. That includes the largest outbreaks, in Orthodox Jewish communities in and around New York City.

Three-quarters of those who caught the extremely contagious disease are children or teenagers.

No deaths have been reported but 66 patients were hospitalized.

Measles spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
 
https://nypost.com/2019/04/29/jetblue-flight-quarantined-at-jfk-airport-after-measles-scare/

JetBlue flight quarantined at JFK Airport after measles scare
By Anabel Sosa and Tina Moore
April 29, 2019 | 12:50pm

A JetBlue flight that landed at JFK Airport was temporarily quarantined Sunday night after crew members mistook mosquito bites for the measles, sources told The Post.

The bites appeared on a young Orthodox Jewish boy who was aboard Flight 410, which landed around 9 p.m. from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, sources said.

The plane landed with “with reports of an unconfirmed medical condition,” the Port Authority said Monday.

“The passenger, who was previously vaccinated, was evaluated by EMS and cleared,” the PA said.

The flight was immediately quarantined but eventually given the all clear for “normal deplaning,” the PA said.

In a statement, JetBlue said passengers were “requested to hold for medical services out of an abundance of caution so a customer could be examined.”

Among those aboard the flight were dozens of Orthodox Jewish passengers who had visited the Dominican Republic on a Pesach program for Passover, according to the Yeshiva World.

The US is currently experiencing the largest outbreak of measles since 1994, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. More than 700 cases of the highly contagious disease have been confirmed in 22 states from Jan. 1 to April 26.
 
https://nypost.com/2019/05/07/43-more-measles-cases-confirmed-in-nyc-since-late-april/

43 more measles cases confirmed in NYC since late April
By Nolan Hicks
May 7, 2019 | 5:32pm

jewish-community-measles.jpg

A health clinic sign in the Orthodox Jewish area of Williamsburg warning about measles. EPA-EFE/REX


The city Health Department announced Tuesday that the number of measles cases in the city has hit 466 since the outbreak began in October.

That’s an increase of 43 cases since the city last reported figures on April 29.

That new tally includes two children who live in Sunset Park, whose parents claimed religious exemptions to get around vaccination requirements at city public schools.

Neither child belongs to a household that is part of the city’s Orthodox Jewish community, which has been hard hit by the outbreak.

A city source confirmed the children were likely infected by visiting the heavily Orthodox neighborhood of Borough Park, which has been one of the hot spots for the outbreak along with Williamsburg.

The updated figures from the Health Department released Tuesday show the number of infections from April hit 151, making it the worst month since the outbreak began last year.

Williamsburg and Borough Park now combine to account for 448 of the 466 reported measles cases in the five boroughs — more than 96 percent.

City officials have responded by putting five Williamsburg zip codes under a mandatory vaccination order and launching a major public health campaign to counter baseless anti-vaccine conspiracy theories circulating in the insular Orthodox precincts.

Parents who fail to comply face a $1,000 fine.
 
https://nypost.com/2019/05/08/another-yeshiva-closed-in-brooklyn-amid-measles-outbreak/

Another yeshiva closed in Brooklyn amid measles outbreak

By Aaron Feis
May 8, 2019 | 10:48pm

The city Health Department shuttered another Brooklyn yeshiva on Wednesday for refusing orders to fight the measles outbreak, officials said.

Simche Kinder, on Myrtle Avenue near Marcy Avenue in Williamsburg, was shut down, becoming at least the eighth Orthodox Jewish school closed amid efforts to control the contagion.

“The Health Department is working with parents to find alternative care for the [77] children that attended the program,” the agency said.
 
https://nypost.com/2019/05/12/28-quarantined-on-scientology-cruise-ship-over-measles-outbreak/

28 quarantined on Scientology cruise ship over measles outbreak
By Associated Press
May 12, 2019 | 10:05am

scientology-cruise-ship-measles-curacao.jpg


WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) — Authorities in Curacao announced Saturday that 17 crew members and 11 passengers must stay aboard a ship owned by the Church of Scientology that is under quarantine following a confirmed case of measles.

Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth said the group is required to stay on the 440-feet Freewinds ship until May 13 because they are still at risk of contracting measles after a female crew member contracted the disease.

He said the remaining crew members and passengers, which totaled 318, are free to leave the ship.

“They are not a threat to anyone anymore, and they cannot become sick anymore,” he said.

The church said in a statement that the health authorities in Curacao had acknowledged the Freewinds for its strict isolation protocol, which effectively contained the illness to a single case and prevented it from spreading to others. According to the church’s website, the ship is the home of “a religious retreat ministering the most advanced level of spiritual counseling.”

The ship was previously quarantined in St. Lucia and arrived in its home port of Curacao a week ago. Authorities then took 277 blood samples from those who did not have proof of vaccination and sent them to the Netherlands.

Gerstenbluth said the female crew member who was infected had been in Europe and arrived April 17 in Curacao with cold symptoms. Authorities said she got tested for measles, but had already left for St. Lucia by the time the results came back. Officials in Curacao then alerted the government of St. Lucia.

Symptoms include runny nose, fever and a red-spotted rash. Most people recover, but measles can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling and even death in some cases.

More than 700 people in 22 U.S. states have gotten measles this year, with federal officials saying the resurgence is driven by misinformation about vaccines.
 
https://nypost.com/2019/05/13/health-department-closes-queens-yeshiva-amid-measles-outbreak/

Health Department closes Queens yeshiva amid measles outbreak
By Nolan Hicks
May 13, 2019 | 6:36pm

queens-yeshiva.jpg


Health officials ordered a Queens yeshiva closed Monday as New York City struggles to contain the nation’s worst measles outbreak in a generation.

Flushing’s Yeshiva of Central Queens was forced to shut its doors for failing to prevent un-vaccinated students exposed to the contagious virus from attending class.

This is the first school closed outside of Brooklyn since the outbreak began in October.

“In order to prevent outbreaks in new areas of the city we need parents to get their children vaccinated and schools to exclude children who are not up to date with the measles vaccine. We continue to urge un-vaccinated New Yorkers to get vaccinated against measles as soon as possible,” Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said in a statement.

This closure brings to nine the number of Jewish Othordox schools and daycare centers hit for failing to enforce the city’s measles crackdown.

It’s the first closure outside of hard-hit Brooklyn, which has been home to most of the measles cases reported in the city.

Meanwhile, officials disclosed that the tally of infections kept climbing last week, hitting a new high of 498.

Much of the outbreak remains concentrated in neighborhoods home to the city’s insular Orthodox communities where anti-vaccine conspiracy theories have lowered inoculation rates, authorities say.

More than three-quarters of the cases, 399, are in hard-hit Williamsburg, which is home to a large Orthodox community.

Officials ordered parents who live in five zip codes in the Brooklyn neighborhood to get their children inoculated for the disease.

However, Barbot added a hopeful note in her statement Monday, saying that high vaccination rates elsewhere in the city mean that “exposures outside of the Williamsburg neighborhood have not resulted in sustained transmission.”
 
https://nypost.com/2019/06/11/new-measles-cases-down-amid-vaccine-push/

New measles cases down amid vaccine push
By Theo Wayt and Max Jaeger
June 11, 2019 | 4:50pm

The city is gaining ground in its battle against the measles outbreak gripping Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community, health officials said Tuesday — as they announced the closure of a tenth school for not complying with vaccination requirements.

“We’re cautiously optimistic, but we’re not taking anything for granted,” Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said during a Board of Health meeting held in Queens.

Officials said 588 cases of the potentially deadly virus have been confirmed in the city since September. Of those, 537 were in Orthodox Jewish sections of Williamsburg and Borough Park, according to officials.

But the frequency in reported cases is dropping amid a rise in city-ordered vaccinations. There were 177 new infections in April — when the city declared the outbreak a public-health emergency and ordered kids in affected areas vaccinated — and just 86 cases in May, officials said.

Only five cases have been reported so far this month.

“We are seeing a dramatic rise in the number of individuals living in Williamsburg and Borough Park — as well as across the city — getting vaccinated against the measles,” Barbot said.

Now city health authorities are mounting a campaign to educate so-called anti-vaxxers who swear off vaccines because they believe, despite copious medical evidence to the contrary, that the shots cause health problems.

“This is like hand-to-hand combat with the anti-vaxxers,” Barbot said of the city’s efforts to grapple with misinformed parents.

Since the outbreak, 48 people have landed in the hospital including who 17 needed to go to the intensive-care unit.

Four schools and five Pre-K facilities were forced to temporarily close for defying the mayor’s April 9 dictate by accepting un-vaccinated kids but have since reopened, officials said.

On Tuesday, a 10th school was shuttered.

Williamsburg yeshiva Central UTA Boys Division was closed “for failing to exclude staff and students who did not have documentation of immunity,” the Health Department said in a press release issued after the Board of Health meeting.

The school will be able reopen once it proves it’s corrected the issue, officials said.

The city has also issued 173 summonses for un-vaccinated individuals — mainly children, whose parents are responsible for answering the citations, according to Health Department authorities.
 
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