A measles outbreak in the northeastern US has spread to a fourth state, which health officials are attempting to curb by offering free vaccines.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where cases have been rising since December, pop-up clinics have launched to offer the shot to unvaccinated individuals.
Over the weekend, Virginia and New Jersey warned residents over the virus — with New Jersey confirming a case in a child who attended daycare.
It takes the total number of infections to nine – eight of which are confirmed to be in unvaccinated people.
At least 30 people are under monitoring.
Doctors say measles — which is several times more infectious than Covid — is spreading in the US again because of falling vaccination rates.
Official data published last year revealed that in some states, a shocking 12 percent of kindergarteners had not received the shot against measles mumps and rubella (MMR) which protects against the deadly disease.
The above map shows states with measles cases (red) or warning over measles exposures (yellow) with no cases yet detected. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (top right) which is where the first case in the outbreak was detected
In 2022, national uptake of the MMR shot had reached record lows – falling from 95 percent to 93 percent in two years.
In some states, the figure is as low as 78 percent.
Experts are now urging all Americans to ensure they are vaccinated against the condition, which can lead to encephalitis — lethal swelling of the brain.
In Philadelphia, where seven of the nine cases have been recorded, physicians at the Black Doctors Consortium are handing out free vaccines against measles.
City health officials are also offering free vaccines at three of their health centers from Monday through Thursday and over the weekend.
The organization’s director Dr Ala Stanford told Fox News Philadelphia: ‘Measles is the most contagious viral illness — several times more contagious than Covid.
‘One person can infect up to 20 people. And it stays in the air for two hours, so if you have been to a particular location where a confirmed case has been [you could be at risk].
‘And all it takes for measles to spread is for a person to breathe. Not to cough, not to sneeze, just breathe.’
She added: ‘The most important thing you can do to protect yourself from measles is to get vaccinated.
‘We have a large influx of people from other countries that come here that don’t have access to the care that we’ve had.
‘All it takes is one person to come here [with measles] and meet someone who is unvaccinated and now you’ve got the spread.’
The Consortium is offering the shots at the Dr Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity from Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Philadelphia health chiefs are offering the shots between 10am and 12pm and 1pm to 3pm at their health centers. They will be available from 8am to 12pm over the weekend.
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is administered as two shots in childhood, with the first between 12 and 15 months and the second between the ages of four to six. But it is also available to adults, who receive two doses of the vaccine at least 28 days apart.
The vaccine is more than 97 percent effective against infections with measles.
Measles is one of the most infectious diseases ever recorded — with just a tiny amount of virus able to infect the body.
It is spread via respiratory droplets or touching contaminated surfaces, and symptoms include a characteristic rash that erupts on the face and then spreads across the body within days.
The disease is particularly dangerous for children under five years old, pregnant women and the elderly.
About three in every 1,000 children infected die from the disease; usually as a result of measles-related pneumonia or encephalitis.
CDC data for the 2021-2022 school year shows a 10 year low of MMR vaccination rates among kindergarteners. Vaccination rate varies by state – with Alaska, Wisconsin, DC and Ohio revealed as those with the lowest percentage of MMR vaxxed kids
The above map shows the state by state rates of vaccination exemptions for the 2022-2023 school year, highlighting the top five states with the highest percentages of exemptions
At an uptake level of 95 percent of kindergarteners, the MMR vaccine can prevent measles spreading in the community.
But this has now fallen to below that threshold; 93 percent.
In Philadelphia, rates dropped to 92.8 percent of kindergarteners in 2023 — from 97.4 percent in the year before the pandemic.
Most cases of measles in the US are linked to international travel to a country where the disease has not been eradicated.
The last major outbreak occurred in 2022, when more than 80 cases were recorded in Ohio — mostly among children who had not been vaccinated.
The current outbreak in the north-east began in December when a child infected with measles who had not been vaccinated was admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) after returning from abroad.
It took doctors several days to diagnose the infection, only suspecting measles after a characteristic rash appeared.
But by then the virus had already spread to two children in nearby bed; a child who was too young to be vaccinated and a child whose parents opted out of the shot.
Despite quarantine orders, at least one infected patient then attended a daycare in Philadelphia — spreading the disease to other children.
An alert was sparked in Delaware in early January after it emerged one of the Philadelphia-based infected patients had traveled to the state for medical care.
Officials in the state say they are now monitoring 20 to 30 people for infections.
For the 2022-2023 school year three percent of kindergartners had a vaccine exemption from one or more required vaccines. This is an increase from 2.6 percent during the 2021-2022 school year and the highest the US has ever recorded
Last week, New Jersey announced it had confirmed a case of measles in an individual who attended daycare in Camden County — which borders Philadelphia.
State health chiefs currently say the origin of the infection is unknown.
Virginia health chiefs simultaneously warned of a potential measles exposure after a person infected with the virus traveled through the state.
They said the individual was at Dulles International Airport on January 3 and then Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 4.
Health chiefs for the state said the case was not linked to the outbreak reported in Philadelphia.
