US county declares measles emergency

A child receives a vaccination against measles, 16 April 2018Image copyright
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Image caption

Despite the dangers, vaccination rates for measles are declining in many countries


Rockland County, on the Hudson river north of New York City, has barred unvaccinated children from public spaces after 153 cases were confirmed.


The announcement follows other outbreaks of the disease in Washington, California, Texas and Illinois.




Why has this county taken action?


Mr Day said health inspectors had encountered “resistance” from some local residents, which he branded “unacceptable and irresponsible”.

“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,” he said.

Dylan Skriloff, the editor of local newspaper the Rockland County Times, told the BBC the number of measles cases in the county had been increasing steadily in recent weeks.

“The first reports came six months ago, and each week we’ve had a new report with increased numbers,” he said.

“It’s become clear that it’s not abating, and the authorities… don’t want to accept [this reality] as the new normal.”

Skriloff said that the authorities had been making “steady progress” in encouraging religious communities to immunise children but communication had broken down in the last month.

“The rate of immunisation in the religious communities, for young people, it’s about 50%-60%, which is not nearly enough.”

Officials said the order, which bans anyone under the age of 18 who has not been vaccinated from places such as schools, shopping centres, restaurants and places of worship, would come into effect at midnight on Wednesday and last 30 days.

Rockland County has a population of more than 300,000.

Why are there so many outbreaks?

By James Gallagher, health and science correspondent, BBC News

Both Europe and the US are dealing with outbreaks of measles, but why now?

Nothing has changed about the virus; the answer instead lies in human behaviour.

Myths about the vaccine causing autism have been debunked but are still affecting the number of children being immunised. And complacency from a generation of parents unfamiliar with the dangers of measles has also had an effect.

So with every year that goes by, the total number of unvaccinated people grows, often in pockets in some communities. It is like an ever-growing tinderbox just waiting for a spark.

Measles still runs rampant in many parts of the world – it kills around 90,000 people a year. All it takes is a bit of travel for measles to reach those vulnerable pockets and spread like wildfire.

What has happened elsewhere with measles vaccinations?



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Media captionThere have also been outbreaks of measles in Europe




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