NEW YORK DECLARES LARGE OUTBREAK OF MEASLES HAS ENDED

New York City’s largest measles outbreak in nearly 30 years is over, city officials announced Tuesday.

The city spent more than $6 million, deployed more than 500 staff members and issued a mandatory vaccination order for people living and working in four Brooklyn neighborhoods. The outbreak of a highly contagious and potentially life-threatening disease was heavily concentrated in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has spread, officials said.

A total of 654 people were infected and 52 were hospitalized, including 16 who required intensive care because of serious complications, according to a department news release.

About 73% of the individuals were unvaccinated, 7% were incompletely vaccinated and 15% did not know their vaccination status. The majority of the cases — 72% — occurred in the four Brooklyn neighborhoods.

The city’s outbreak was the largest in the country — fueling a national increase that has resulted in the greatest number of cases in a single year in 27 years. As of Aug. 29, there were 1,234 cases nationwide, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This year’s outbreaks represent a huge setback for public health after measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.

No new cases have been reported since mid-July.