The California Department of Public Health has reported on Monday an increased outbreak of measles cases that is now 73 in the state, with about 50 of them linked to the outbreak that started in Disneyland.
Just last week, the number of cases that were reported by public health officials were 59 cases since the outbreak in December, with 42 of them associated with the incident in Disneyland.
Apart from the number of reported cases in California, other states like Arizona has reported five cases, Utah three, Washington two, Nevada one, Oregon one, and Colorado one. Meanwhile, one case has also been reported in Mexico.
The measles outbreak originated at the Disneyland park themes between December 15-20; and five employees within the organization have come down with the disease.
A highly communicable respiratory disease, measles is caused by a virus and spread through the air, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It starts with a fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes and sore throat, the CDC said.
The deputy director of the state’s Center for Infectious Diseases, Dr. Gil Chavez, advised that children under 12 months of age as well as unvaccinated people stay away from Disneyland park while the outbreak rages. He also recommends that airports and shopping malls as well as other places where large numbers of people congregate be avoided by people who have never had any measles vaccination. And according to the public health expert, Disneyland should be “perfectly safe” if you’ve been immunized.
And Suzi Brown of Disney media relations stated, “We agree with Dr. Chavez’s comments that it is safe to visit Disneyland if you have been vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, some activists are irate that unvaccinated people constitute the reasons why measles continues to spread and therefore calls for them to be sued and prosecuted as a way to compel getting vaccinated. They believe if someone would just decide not to get vaccinated and helps the disease to spread, then turning to the law would ensure that such persons is held accountable for risky behavior.
The California Department of Public Health said Orange County had the most measles cases, with 23, followed by San Diego County, with 13.