Washington's measles outbreak continues to grow, now at 43 cases, with 15 more suspected

The first diagnosis of a case of measles in the most recent outbreak in Clark County, Washington, was on Dec. 31, 2018. Thirty-one days later, and less than a week after Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency, the number of diagnosed measles cases is at 43. Seattle TV station KOMO News reports that Clark County has a 78 percent vaccination rate, “far below the 95 percent required for ‘herd immunity’ for such a contagious virus.”  There are also 15 suspected cases of measles still to be diagnosed, and health officials expect the current tally to grow.

CNN reports that this is the highest number of cases Washington has seen since 1996. And while not as bad as the situation in Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Colorado, California, and Georgia have all reported measles cases so far in 2019. 

Measles is highly contagious, and can be very serious. So far, Washington health officials say that most of the cases involve unvaccinated children under the age of 10 years old. Two cases have required hospital stays.