WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. public health officials have been worrying about recent measles outbreak in the northwest of the country, citing the low vaccination rate in the region.
Number of confirmed cases in Washington State has risen to 36 on Monday, while Oregon Health Authority has confirmed one case in a county neighboring the plagued Clark County of Washington, whose vaccination rate is well below the necessary level as reported by local media.
"The Washington State Department of Health reminds people to take precautions to help stop the spread of measles," the department said in an online statement, urging soon immunization of children.
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee on Jan. 18 declared state of emergency in all counties in the state.
"State agencies and departments are directed to utilize state resources and to do everything reasonably possible to assist affected political subdivisions in an effort to respond to and recover from the incidents," Inslee said in the announcement.
Meanwhile, 62 cases have been confirmed in New York City's Brooklyn as of Wednesday, Department of Health of the New York State said on its website.
The outbreak in the city has began since October 2018 in Orthodox Jewish communities after a child came back from a trip to Israel, where a battle against measles had been going on for months.
The situation in the state of New Jersey has reportedly alleviated, where 33 cases have been confirmed since October 2018.
The state department of health announced earlier that the measles outbreak was considered over as no new cases have been identified in the incubation period of the last known case.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one or two out of every 1,000 children infected with measles will die from severe complications.
Health officials urged citizens, especially young children and pregnant women, to get vaccinated, saying that basic infection prevention activities should be taken by everyone.
In 2018, 17 outbreaks and 349 cases have been reported in 27 jurisdictions of the United States. Low vaccination rate is widely believed as the reason behind recent outbreaks.
