OC Measles Outbreak Appears to Taper

While six new cases of measles have been reported in California since a December outbreak linked to Disneyland, there have been no new infections reported in Orange County over the last week, a hopeful sign that the spread of infections could be slowing locally.

The new cases were centered in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The new cases brings the number of measles cases in California to 119.

In Orange County, there have been 35 cases of measles reported this season, but the last week marks the first lull in new cases since the outbreak peaked, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency said.

One additional case was reported in Los Angeles County, bringing the total there to 21. Two cases in Long Beach and four in Pasadena are not included in the Los Angeles County total. Riverside reported two new cases, bringing the total there to eight and San Bernardino County reported three new cases, raising the total there to nine.

There were 39 cases traced back to visitors or workers at Disneyland Dec. 17-20, according to the state. In 27 cases, it was passed on from someone in the house or another close relation, officials said.

Eight people contracted the disease in a community setting such as an emergency room where someone was seeking treatment for measles.

In 45 cases, it’s unknown how those afflicted contracted it.

Of the patients the state has vaccination records for, 53 did not get shots and 15 had one or more doses of the MMR vaccine, according to the state.

Cases stemming from Disneyland have been reported in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah and Washington as well as Mexico and Canada, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC reported on Friday when there were 110 cases of measles, 45 percent were unvaccinated, five percent had one dose and six percent had two doses and only one person had three doses. Twelve of those afflicted with measles were too young to get shots, and of those who were eligible to get shots, 28 intentionally took a pass based on personal beliefs and one had an “alternative plan” for immunization, according to the CDC.

Of the 28 who did not get vaccinated, 18 were children and the rest adults, according to the CDC.

The patients have ranged in age from six weeks to 70 years, with the median age 22, according to the CDC.

Experts suspect the outbreak started with a traveler who got infected overseas and then visited Disneyland while infectious, according to the CDC. Scientists say the measles virus in this outbreak matches the one in an outbreak in the Philippines last year.

The CDC, however, noted that the same virus has been seen in 14 other countries over the past six months and at least six states not linked to the current outbreak.

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