Measles Outbreak: Health Officials Warn Of New Exposure In NJ As CDC Numbers Keep Rising
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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Health officials have issued a new warning about a possible case of measles exposure in New Jersey.
The state health department says a resident of Middlesex County may have exposed people at a restaurant in Monmouth County last week.
The restaurant is Rosalita's Roadside Cantina on Route 9 in Englishtown.
Anyone who went there between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on April should check with a doctor.
MEASLES HEALTH EMERGENCY RESOURCES
- NYC.gov Measles Information Page
- Where To Get Immunizations In New York City
- Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR)
- Signs And Symptoms
- CDC Measles Statistics
This new case of exposure comes as the Centers for Disease Control released new numbers showing the measles outbreak is growing in the Tri-State Area and across the country.
The total number of reported measles infections for 2019 are now 626 cases nationwide - almost as high as for all of 2014, the highest year since an eradication program began in earnest, reports CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez.
The total includes 359 cases in New York, 33 cases in New Jersey and two cases in Connecticut.
State health departments are reporting numbers that include cases going back to October, when the current outbreak started.
The number of case are increasing for two main reasons: Resistance to vaccinations and ease of travel.
Most of the cases are in unvaccinated people. It only takes one infected person on an airplane, domestically or internationally, to mingle in a community where vaccination rates are low and an outbreak spreads
Booster shots are not needed for people who were born before 1963.
People who have had wild measles and are immune for life. Those born between 1963 and 1989 when the measles vaccine was just one shot may need a booster if travelling to a country or community where there's wild measles.
Those born after 1989 when the MMR two-dose shot protocol was instituted should be immune.
