Manhattan Resident Gets Measles From Exposure In Sunset Park

CHELSEA, NY — A Manhattan resident was diagnosed with measles after being exposed to the disease in Sunset Park, the city's Department of Health said Wednesday.

As of Tuesday, 550 people have been diagnosed with measles since the outbreak began last October, the department said.

A DOH spokesman said the Manhattanite resides in the area of the Chelsea and Clinton neighborhoods and became ill early last week. The department said the resident was diagnosed after exposure to the disease in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where there are 12 confirmed cases after the outbreak spread to that neighborhood earlier this month.

Seven people in Staten Island were also diagnosed with measles, the DOH said. Six of those were linked to exposure in Rockland County back in March while the seventh was linked to Sunset Park measles activity, the department said.

"The recently identified cases are linked to exposures in neighborhoods with known measles activity," DOH Commissioner Oxiris Barbot said in a statement.

The additional cases show the "urgent need to get vaccinated," especially for people who spend time in neighborhoods where the outbreak is most prominent, Barbot said.

About 77 percent of measles cases are in the Williamsburg ZIP codes of 11205, 11206, 11211 and 11249, where people who live or work are required to have the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine under an emergency order from April. Measles is a highly contagious disease that can cause pneumonia, brain swelling and death, though it is preventable with a vaccine.

"This message cannot be overstated — if you live, work or attend school in these sections of the city, get vaccinated if you are able," Barbot said.

The DOH recommends two doses of the MMR vaccine for adults without documentation of vaccination and an extra and early dose for infants who are 6 to 11 months old. For children ages 1 to 4, the department recommends an early dose after the routine dose at 12 months of age, so long as 28 days have passed since the last dose.

Since Oct. 1, more than 25,500 doses of MMR vaccine have been administered to children under 18 in Williamsburg and Borough Park under the city's efforts to thwart the outbreak.

For more information on the outbreak, see Patch's guide from April.