Measles cases spiked last week as New York City’s ongoing outbreak worsened, according to the CDC.
In just one week, the number of measles cases around the country so far this year jumped 20%, according to new CDC data. The total now stands 465, the second-highest since the the disease was declared eradicated from the US in 2000.
Of the 78 new cases reported last week, 60 were in New York city, the agency said. Officials in the area are battling an outbreak that started in the fall and continues to spread, especially among Orthodox Jewish communities where people are less likely to be vaccinated.
In Brooklyn’s Williamsburg community alone, 41 new cases were reported in the past week, according to the city’s health department. Since October, there have been 259 confirmed cases in Brooklyn and Queens, the health department said, most of which involved the Orthodox Jewish community.
