Measles cases in Pennsylvania pass 1,000; case reported in Allegheny County
Case reported in Allegheny County
For the first time in 35 years, Pennsylvania has recorded a little more than 1,000 cases of the measles, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced Monday.
While the outbreak has so far bypassed Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, Allegheny County reported its first case Monday. The county’s health department said in a social media post that the person infected is an 18-year-old who was not vaccinated and is recovering at their home.
They also say the person might have exposed others when they visited the Target store in the Pine Creek Shopping Center on McKnight Road in Ross Township between 3:45 and 5:45 p.m. Thursday.
The health department said that there was no risk of school exposure.
Across the state there were 27 new positive cases between Friday and Monday. The last time Pennsylvania saw a measles outbreak of this magnitude was in 1991, when 1,400 people were infected in Philadelphia. So far, five people have died from it.
Pennsylvania is at the epicenter of a national resurgence of measles. There have been close to 4,000 cases this year across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As recently as 2000, though, measles was declared eliminated in the United States because cases were so few and far between.
The measles outbreak in Pennsylvania has led to an apparent upsurge of interest in people getting the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. According to the state health department, more than 49,000 doses were administered in August, and 53,000 doses were administered in September. Typically, 25,000 doses of the MMR vaccine are administered every month in Pennsylvania.