Ohio Measles Outbreak Is Biggest in U.S. Since 1996
An Ohio measles outbreak tied to unvaccinated Amish travelers who visited the Philippines has reached 66 cases — the most in a single state in the U.S. since 1996, health officials said Monday.
It’s part of a larger surge of measles nationwide that has topped last year’s 186 cases and is closing in fast on the 220 cases reported in 2011, the most since the highly contagious disease was considered eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The latest official CDC figures logged 161 cases as of May 3, but there have been dozens more reported since then, officials said.
Travelers bringing home the virus that can linger in the air for hours have spread the disease to growing pockets of unvaccinated children and adults back home. California has posted 59 cases; New York has logged 26 this year.
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