Rockland County declared a state of emergency Tuesday over a measles outbreak that has infected more than 150 people since last fall, hoping a ban against unvaccinated children in public places wakes their parents to the seriousness of the problem.
“It’s an attention grab, there’s no question about it,” Rockland County Executive Ed Day said at a news conference, noting that he didn’t believe such a drastic step has ever been tried in the U.S. before.
Day said he was taking the action in hopes of reversing a recent uptick in cases amid disturbing reports that health workers were encountering resistance when investigating cases. Rockland’s outbreak has most heavily affected Orthodox Jewish communities, in which vaccination rates tend to be lower.
Under the declaration, which lasts for at least 30 days, anyone under 18 who is not vaccinated against measles is barred from public gathering places, including shopping malls, civic centers, schools, restaurants and even houses of worship. Those in violation could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.
Officials report they have had difficulty in getting information from the Orthodox-Jewish communities in Spring Valley, New Square and Monsey where many of cases of Measles have been confirmed:
But Day acknowledged that there will be no concerted enforcement effort and that the intent is not to arrest people but to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.
“There will not be law enforcement or deputy sheriffs asking for vaccination records. That is ridiculous,” Day said. “However, parents will be held accountable if they’re found to be in violation of this emergency declaration.”
The county is experiencing New York state’s longest measles outbreak since the disease was declared officially eliminated from the United States in 2000. Health officials say the best way to stop the disease’s spread is a vaccination rate in the community of 92 to 95 percent. Day said only 72.9 percent of people under 18 have been vaccinated against measles in Rockland County, which has more than 300,000 residents.
Civil rights attorney Michael Sussman, who represents the parents of 44 unvaccinated children who were barred from a Waldorf School in the county, said he would discuss a possible challenge to the emergency declaration in a meeting with his clients Tuesday night.
“It’s irrational,” Sussman said. “You’re punishing people who don’t have the illness rather than quarantining people who are sick.”
Sussman said a quarantine of measles patients and those close to them would quickly stop the disease’s spread.
This month, a federal judge, citing the “unprecedented measles outbreak,” denied the parents’ request to let unvaccinated children return to the Waldorf School. The lawsuit said the county’s order banning unvaccinated children from schools regardless of religious or medical exemptions violated their constitutional rights.
The outbreak began in the Rockland area when seven unvaccinated travelers diagnosed with measles entered the county last October. There have been 153 cases to date, Day said. In the early days of the outbreak, people were cooperating with health officials and getting children vaccinated, he said, but that has changed.
“Our health inspectors have been hung up on and told not to call again. They’ve been told, ‘We’re not discussing this, do not come back,’ when visiting the homes of infected individuals as part of their investigations,” Day said. “This type of response is unacceptable and frankly irresponsible.”
On the same day as the federal judge’s ruling on the school children, pediatric organizations expressed support for state legislation that would allow minors to get vaccinated without parental consent.
The state legislation’s Democratic sponsors said too many parents believe unsupported claims that vaccines are unsafe and cause autism or other conditions. Day echoed that message, noting celebrities who have spoken out against vaccines.
“If you’re going to People magazine and Jenny McCarthy and Robert De Niro for your medical advice, you need to re-evaluate your life,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists six measles outbreaks, defined as three or more cases, around the country in 2019, including Rockland County’s. The CDC said the outbreaks are linked to travelers who brought the disease back from other countries, such as Israel and Ukraine, where large measles outbreaks are occurring.
There have been 181 confirmed cases of measles in Brooklyn and Queens since October, most of them involving members of the Orthodox Jewish community, according to the CDC.
Day said the emergency order was timed with the upcoming religious holidays of Easter and Passover in mind.
“We want people to be able to celebrate,” he said. “We don’t want to see a repeat of how this outbreak started when we saw people gathered together and then fall ill last fall.”
The CDC says 15 states have had at least one case of measles confirmed in 2019, for a total of 314 cases to date. In 2014, 667 cases were confirmed nationwide and there were 372 cases in 2018.
Since the Rockland County measles outbreak began in early October 2018, Refuah Health Center has worked in-step with the Rockland County Health Department acting as a Point-of-Distribution for the MMR vaccine. Over the past five months Refuah has administered over 4,278 MMRs and altered service delivery to prevent unnecessary exposure by providing front door triage for all patients presenting with a fever and mobile medical services for patients under 6-months of age who were unable to receive an immunization. Additionally, Refuah has launched a multifaceted patient engagement and education campaign, strongly urging all patients and the local community to obtain all recommended vaccinations.
Refuah’s ongoing commitment to timely vaccinations continues. This week, prior to Executive Day’s State of Emergency declaration, Refuah hosted a workshop on vaccine hesitancy for its provider staff featuring nationally recognized expert, Dr. Robert Jacobson, M.D., F.A.A.P., Professor of Pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic. In light of the State of Emergency, Refuah thanks Dr. Jacobson and the Mayo Clinic for timely guidance and reaffirms its commitment to assisting individuals and families in obtaining all recommended vaccines and bringing the outbreak to an end.
Refuah urges all adults born after 1/1/1957 to check their vaccination records to see if they have received 2 measles or MMR vaccines. For children and individuals who are not immunized or for those who are unsure of their vaccination history, please contact your primary care provider. An MMR vaccine provides the most effective protection against the measles and could provide protection against this exposure or future exposures. With 2 doses, the MMR vaccine can be 97% effective in providing immunity. Refuah is offering vaccinations at all Rockland County locations. For more information, please visit RefuahHealth.org or call 1.845.354.9300.
Vaccination rates for confirmed measles cases in Rockland County:
- 82.1% have had 0 MMRs
- 4.0% have had 1 MMR
- 4.0% have had 2 MMRs
- 9.9% unknown status
Age groups for the confirmed measles cases in Rockland County
- Less than 1 year old: 15.0%
- 1-3 years: 23.8%
- 4-18 years: 45.7%
- 19+ years: 15.2%
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease (in the lungs and breathing tubes) caused by a virus that is spread by direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of infected people (when a person infected with the measles virus breathes, coughs, or sneezes). Measles is one of the most contagious viruses on earth; one measles infected person can give the virus to 18 others. In fact, 90% of unvaccinated people exposed to the virus become infected. You can catch measles just by being in a room where a person with measles has been, up to 2 hours after that person is gone. And you can catch measles from an infected person even before they have a measles rash.
Common symptoms
Symptoms usually appear 10-12 days after exposure but may appear as early as 7 days and as late as 21 days after exposure. Measles typically begins with
- high fever,
- cough,
- runny nose (coryza), and
- red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis).
Then:
- Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth.
- Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash breaks out. It usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet. Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots. The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body. When the rash appears, a person’s fever may go up to more than 104° Fahrenheit.
- After a few days, the fever subsides and the rash fades.
People are considered infectious from four days before to four days after the appearance of the rash.
Measles can be dangerous, especially for babies and young children. Others who are at high risk for complications if they get the measles include pregnant women who are not immune, as well as those who are immune-compromised or immunosuppressed (when your body can’t fight disease).
Common Complications include ear infections and diarrhea.
- Ear infections occur in about one out of every 10 children with measles and can result in permanent hearing loss.
- Diarrhea is reported in less than one out of 10 people with measles.
Severe Complications
Some people may suffer from severe complications, such as pneumonia (infection of the lungs) and encephalitis (swelling of the brain). They may need to be hospitalized and could die. Here are some facts about complications in children and pregnant women:
- As many as one out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children.
- About one child out of every 1,000 who get measles will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain) that can lead to convulsions and can leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability.
- For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die from it.
- Measles may cause pregnant woman to give birth prematurely, or have a low-birth-weight baby.
Rare Long-term Complications
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a very rare, but fatal disease of the central nervous system that results from a measles virus infection acquired earlier in life. SSPE generally develops 7 to 10 years after a person has measles, even though the person seems to have fully recovered from the illness.
(YWN / AP)
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31 Responses
Kick these people off of medicaid. If you refuse to follow the government recomendations for health why should it pay when your kids get sick.
“Officials report they have had difficulty in getting information from the Orthodox-Jewish community, where many of cases of Measles have been confirmed.”
Why would the frum tzibur be reluctant to share information with public health officials to help contain this epidemic?? One would think they have the most to gain from assuring there is timely and accurate information about the incidence of measles cases, the scope of vaccination and how to best plan the response. Seems like a no brainer and any askanim who have withheld informatio or provide inaccuate information should be identified and disciplined.
Why do we all get punished for a few people
A few words from a Bubby:
This should be our worst emergency. little kids with measels.
Just a few years back it was a normal childhood illness, like chickenpox, and kids missed a week of school.
Moms would make party’s so the kids could get it from each other, and doctors said it strengthened the immune system.
It’s strange how brainwashed we are by the media nowadays, and how the ‘authorities’ are our source of emes.
Reminds me of the stories of how the Yidden in mitzrayim trusted the mitzrim, that led them to slavery.
Ask your Bubby about measels and stop the panic! Hashem knows better how to arrange His world.
The kids who don’t get it young, and their shot wears out, are very likely to get it later on, when it IS dangerous!
So ask your doctor about shedding of the MMR. That may be a more likely way to spread illness, since those kids now carry the illness and healthy kids don’t.
May we all be blessed with a kosher and healthy, freilechen Pesach!
all rabbis who advise against vaccination stand up and be heard. but first, send your descendants to play with these children
Should the Agudah disassociate itself with groups of Jews who dont take this seriously?
“It’s strange how brainwashed we are by the media nowadays, and how the ‘authorities’ are our source of emes”
So right, We should look to rocket scientists with screen names like “Mom613) on an internt blog site fo accurate and timely infomatio on public health issues Forget about the CDC and other pulic health experts…..Remind us what your travel plans are for the near term so that we can keep our distance.
Excuse me Mom 613,
If C”V you need a doctor for any specific reason, would you trust him/her?
End of
Mom613
When your child or grandchild has permanent neurological damage due to encephalitis from measles come back and tell me how not dangerous the measles are. In the meantime everyone should encourage their family to get vaccinated.
Mom, you are either ignorant or simply misstating the truth.
However, the verifiable truth is as follows.
Measles was never regarded as a benign disease, for detailed references you can just check the YWN coffee room thread about vaccines.
Currently, there are a number of children that were hospitalized for measles and its sequelae, are you willing to accept responsibility for those that have suffered from this preventable disease?
I cant belive the mods approved shtus from an anti-vaxxer comparing measles to Chicken pox
The second comment is the corrected one..
To mom613:
Thanx but no thanx for your Bubbeh Mysis!
Mom613, mameleh you are sadly mistaken. Chicken pox is a harmless contagious infection that would prompt other mothers in the neighborhood to throw a party and gather the children so that they could contract it as the younger you get the infection the better as per the thinking of the day. Chicken pox only leaves you itchy and hoping for better days. Measles is deadly and no one just recovers from that and there have never been parties to contract it. That’s dangerous information you’re putting out there. Measles can leave you blind, deaf, barren, paralyzed, brain damaged and much worse. Duz iz die emes!
Just more county antisemitism
Dear Mr. Laughing,
Are you having a laugh? where does antisemitism come in to the picture? YEEEE they really don’t care about the outbreak all the authority’s have in mind is Antisemitism, i’m starting to wonder who should first be vaccinated, you or the Measles sufferers,
Laughing because the jews in their neighborhood prove them right
FYI – chicken pox is not so harmless. You have chicken pox and then it seems to go away, but what it does is retreat into cells in the nervous system where it hangs around, dormant, maybe for decades – and then when you’ve just about forgotten about it you break out in shingles. Which is no joke. It can make you miserable, get infected, cause nerve pain, etc.
There is now a vaccine against shingles, which older people are encouraged to get, because the outbreak is so miserable.
There is no such thing as a benign childhood disease – not in childhood and not for later on.
These anti/vaxers have brainwashed so many people it’s awful!! They should ban Williamsburg next!!! There are thousands of cases there not hundreds! It’s not reported baceause they don’t believe in doctors so they don’t see them! I can not fathom how people can be SO SELFISH???? There are actual cases of children who can not be immunized for example cancer stricken children.R,L. Now because of these anti vaxers they have to be locked in their homes for fear of catching the measles! Hashem should open their eyes to the truth and nay everyone do what they need to do for the welfare of their children !
Stop the sinas chinum already. Do you think this is how hashem wants you to talk to and about supposedly uneducated individuals. either go to those individuals themselves and do some serious kiruv work on them or keep your comments to yourselves. anyway, the only reason there are so many cases is because ppl. are purposely getting their children exposed so they can have it and thereby have life long immunity. I challenge all of you to tell me that you know a vaccinated or immune compromised pro vaxer who caught the measles from a local child that is unvaccinated, and that this individual has a taana on the unvaccinated. There is one out of town community that is having an outbreak now from a meshulach who infected many vaccinated adults. The towns unvaccinated children didn’t give anyone the measles.
Those in violation could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. But then we would be exposing prisoners to measles, and bringing measles into a government facility [prison].
Mom613 is a troll. I just searched her and she never posted any other comments anywhere on Yeshiva World.
Mom613
Kudos to you for being courageous enough to speak up in the face of all this cyber abuse. I’d give you permission to laugh in the faces of all these idiots when their children and grandchildren are diagnosed with neurological, autoimmune and other chronic disorders, but the Nekama is assur. Signed, a Rodef.
1. This has made national news. News Radio 88 had someone this morning live from Monsey. Not sure if this is a chillul hashem or not but it’s not good. This added to our other current saga with education issues make us not look good PLUS all the other issues we have.
2. Like liberalism is a disease I am starting to think Charedism is a disease. We have so many problems now I have lost count. The current leadership is a total failure in MY opinion. When have they made the right decisions as of late?
3. Why has there not been education videos/articles by Rabbonim in conjunction with medical professionals. I feel if Rabbonim as a group took a stand it will help. To prove this point just look at the KJ community of Monroe. Per the Dr there most of the community IS vaccinated. The Rabbonim together with the Dr’s took the initiative years back to make sure this happens. So kudos to KJ!! It works when everyone works together. Why the current leadership could not make this happen is beyond me.
I wish people would take this matter seriously. The national news networks are reporting that one of the centers of anti-vaxxing in Rockland County is the “Ultra-Orthodox” community. Why do we need to create additional trouble for ourselves? Yes, it’s America, but it’s still golus.
Whatever criticism can be perhaps correctly said regarding those not vaccinating, it is clear Ed Day the County Executive who enacted this is a filthy lowlife antisemite. We don’t know that just from this, but from his entire past history on many issues. And on this issue he made clear he is enacting this so-called health ordinance because he is angry that Jews didn’t answer their phones or doors to county officials. That is not a logical reason to ban people from going in the streets in public, even if not vaccinated. This wasn’t done for health reasons but rather for antisemitic reasons.
Hopefully this unenforceable ordinance will face widespread ignoring by the public it is aimed at. Let him try to arrest hundreds of parents. Or even try to identify which children in public aren’t vaccinated.
How do they plan to enforce this? Random roadblocks demanding vaccination records? Vaccine sniffing dogs?
> ujm
There is a public outbreak of a contagious disease and these people deliberately refuse to co-operate – to not even answer important questions – with officials to help stop it from spreading. And you find their refusal to co-operate acceptable but find the officials at fault? I would argue it is attitudes like those that are spreading anti-Semitism.
I believe in vaccinations and fully believe that anyone not doing so is creating a public health problem. But I still cannot imagine that it is halachically permissible to cooperate with authories in arresting another You who simply brings an unvaccinated child to shul.
Rkyk, good point. I don’t personally know anyone with ebola either, so I will refuse to believe the disease even exists.
To Mom613
“A few words from a Bubby:
This should be our worst emergency. little kids with measels. (sic)
Just a few years back it was a normal childhood illness, like chickenpox, and kids missed a week of school.”
Dear Bubby. How many years back are you talking. My late parents in law lost their 11 year old only son to a measles complication and never ever got over it. Neither did my wife and her sisters. I remember it, it shook our town. (it was before we married).
That was in the early 1970s.
In the early 80s My wife and I nursed a kid with measles, we were unable to vaccinate due to a genuine health risk (of an older son). He was so ill I was really really worried. He was basically unresponsive for a few days. Bh he recovered but it was a nightmare.
Measles is not like chicken pox, it is a potentially deadly illness that is now coming back unfortunately due to people with attitudes of ignorance like yours.
I dont care if you are a troll or not. Your words appeared on this website and they need to be refuted. G-d forbid one person should not vaccinate because of your erroneous chicken pox comparison.