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More than 167 people in the state of New York have contracted measles in the state’s largest outbreak since the 1990s, NBC reported earlier this week (January 8). The highly contagious virus, which scientists say was brought to New York by travelers returning from a visit to Israel last September, has prompted statewide efforts to vaccinate children and adults to try to prevent an epidemic.
“In my memory, I don’t know of a measles outbreak that was this significant,” Howard Zucker, the state commissioner of health in New York, tells CNN.
Douglas Puder, a pediatrician at Clarkstown Pediatrics in Rockland County—one of the areas that has been most affected—tells NBC that there is “clear and present danger right here in our community.” The number of cases in Rockland has risen to 105 since October, with another four being investigated. More than 80 percent of those cases ...
