(WWJ/AP) A county in New York City's northern suburbs is banning unvaccinated minors from public places to fight a measles outbreak that has infected more than 150 people since October.
Rockland County Executive Ed Day said at a news conference that the state of emergency taking effect Tuesday night is intended to persuade parents to have their children vaccinated to reverse the trajectory of the disease's spread.
The county is experiencing New York state's longest measles outbreak since the disease was officially eliminated from the United States in 2000.
A federal judge this month denied a request from parents to let 44 unvaccinated children return to the Waldorf School in Rockland County.
While there have been no such bans in the Detroit area, at least as yet, state and local health officials continue to express concern about a measles outbreak in Southeast Michigan.
As of Tuesday afternoon, officials said there were 21 confimed cases in Oakland County, and one in Wayne County.
Lynn Sutfin, with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said there are several reasons the Measles is spreading so fast in Michigan.
"Some of the individuals that have come down with the measles here in this particular outbreak here are older individuals. So perhaps they may have missed out on that vaccination; depending on when they were born," Sutfin said.
"But, you know, some individuals have made some decisions not to be vaccinated because they have concerns," she added, "and then also we have infants out there who can't be vaccinated until they're a little older, so they're very vulnerable to this disease as well."
This latest Detroit-area outbreak has been traced back to an ill traveler from Israel who visited Oakland County the first week of March.
Nationally, the Centers from Disease Control says there have been more than 300 cases of measles reported so far this year across 15 states.
Since health officials say the best way to stop the disease's spread is a high vaccination rate in the community, those who have not been vaccinated are urged to do so as soon as possible.
Get information on exposure risk locations and where to get your vaccine in Oakland County at this link, or call your doctor.
