Skip to content

Top Navigation

Health.com Health.com
  • Health Conditions A-Z
  • News
  • Coronavirus
  • Diet & Nutrition
  • Fitness
  • Beauty
  • Mind & Body
  • Lifestyle
  • Weight Loss
  • Newsletter
  • Promo

Profile Menu

Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Health.com

Health.com Health.com
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Is Your Doctor Gaslighting You? Here's What to Do

      Is Your Doctor Gaslighting You? Here's What to Do

      How to handle a physician who doubts or dismisses your symptoms. Read More
    • 9 Signs It's More Serious Than the Common Cold

      9 Signs It's More Serious Than the Common Cold

      Doctors explain how to tell if you have a head cold or something more serious that requires medical attention, such as the flu, strep throat, meningitis, or mono. Read More
    • How Your Period Changes During Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

      How Your Period Changes During Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

      From easier cramps to a heavier flow, here's a guide on what to expect decade by decade. Read More
  • Health Conditions A-Z

    Health Conditions A-Z

    See All Health Conditions A-Z
    12 Anxiety Symptoms That Might Point to a Disorder

    12 Anxiety Symptoms That Might Point to a Disorder

    The symptoms of anxiety can be hard to detect. Here are the ones you need to pay attention to, and how to know if you may have an anxiety disorder.
    • Allergies
    • Anxiety
    • Birth Control
    • Breast Cancer
    • Coronavirus
    • Chronic Pain
    • Cold, Flu, and Sinus
    • Depression
    • Digestive Health
    • Diabetes (Type 2)
    • Eczema
    • Eye Health
    • Fibromyalgia
    • Heart Disease
    • Headaches and Migraines
    • Oral Health
    • Pregnancy
    • Psoriasis
    • Sexual Health
    • Skin Conditions
    • Sleep
    • Thyroid
  • News

    News

    See All News
    Shannen Doherty Reveals Stage 4 Breast Cancer Diagnosis—Here's What It Means

    Shannen Doherty Reveals Stage 4 Breast Cancer Diagnosis—Here's What It Means

    "I'm petrified," the actress said when she shared the news that her breast cancer came back. Here's why a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis can be so frightening.
    • Celebrities
  • Coronavirus
  • Diet & Nutrition

    Diet & Nutrition

    The Best (and Worst) Diets of 2020, According to Experts

    The Best (and Worst) Diets of 2020, According to Experts

    FYI: The keto diet isĀ not number one.
    • Food
    • Nutrition
    • Vitamins and Supplements
    • Groceries
    • Restaurants
    • Diets
    • Keto Diet
    • Mediterranean Diet
    • Whole30
    • Recipes
  • Fitness

    Fitness

    See All Fitness
    10 Moves for a Cardio Workout at Home—No Equipment Required

    10 Moves for a Cardio Workout at Home—No Equipment Required

    Stay in your living room and still spike your heart rate.
    • Cardio Workouts
    • Strength Training
    • Yoga
    • Ab Workouts
    • Arm Workouts
    • Leg Workouts
    • Butt Workouts
    • Fitness Gear
  • Beauty

    Beauty

    See All Beauty
    These 13 Women Prove Every Body Is a Bikini Body

    These 13 Women Prove Every Body Is a Bikini Body

    We're loving their inspirational, body-positive messages.
    • Skincare
    • Makeup
    • Hair
    • Nails
  • Mind & Body

    Mind & Body

    See All Mind & Body
    Why Do People Lie? We Asked an Expert

    Why Do People Lie? We Asked an Expert

    Here's the truth about lying.
    • Body Positivity
    • Self-Care
    • Misdiagnosed
    • Invisible Illness
    • LGBTQ+ Health
    • Right to Care: Health Diversity and Inclusion
    • Resolution Reboot
    • Wellness Warriors
  • Lifestyle

    Lifestyle

    20 Things You Should Throw Away for Better Health

    20 Things You Should Throw Away for Better Health

    Clean out expired products and clutter to make way for a healthier you.
    • Healthy Home
    • Pets
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Style
    • Holidays
    • Sex
    • Gifts
    • Money
    • Tech
    • Medicare
    • Best Life Now
    • Health Reviews
  • Weight Loss
  • Newsletter
  • Promo

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

LIVE
  1. HomeChevron Right
  2. Infectious DiseasesChevron Right
  3. 10 Places With Measles or Other Outbreaks

10 Places With Measles or Other Outbreaks

By Amanda Gardner
Updated August 26, 2011
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
california-skyline
Credit: Getty Images
Vaccine-preventable disease like measles, mumps, and whooping cough still make frequent appearances in the U.S. and around the world. Here's a list of vaccine-preventable outbreaks that have occurred in recent months.
Start Slideshow

1 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Where are the outbreaks?

group-vial-vaccines
Credit: Getty Images

Vaccine-preventable disease like measles, mumps, and whooping cough still make frequent appearances in the U.S. and around the world.

These cases usually occur because people have not been vaccinated (for any number of reasons) or have been under-vaccinated.

"A person's decision to not immunize doesn't affect just them," says Marian Michaels, MD, professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. "It affects the entire public."

Here's a list of vaccine-preventable outbreaks that have occurred in recent months.

1 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

California: Whooping cough

child-cough-doctor
Credit: Corbis

By mid-2011, California already had some 2,000 cases of whooping cough—70% in infants under 2 months.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is prevented by the "P" (for pertussis) in the DPT vaccine. Babies are too young to receive vaccinations, but they can remain protected if older siblings and others around them are vaccinated.

As of August, there haven't been any fatalities in 2011, though there were 10 last year. A new law requires students in 7th through 12th grades to get booster shots before entering school in 2011.

2 of 11

3 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Minnesota: Measles

child-girl-measles
Credit: Phototakeusa

Minnesota has had at least 23 cases of measles in 2011, mostly in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis. In one week, 17 cases were reported.

The outbreak started when a 30-month-old child returned from Kenya and infected three children at a child-care center and one person who lived with him. That person went on to infect others.

"Measles is remarkably contagious," says Melinda Wharton, MD, deputy director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "You can contract measles from a room where someone with measles has been. It's possible to walk through an airport and get measles."

3 of 11

Advertisement

4 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

British Columbia: Mumps

child-girl-mumps
Credit: Phototakeusa

In Canada, at least 77 people in Vancouver and other areas of British Columbia came down with mumps. Mumps is a viral illness that causes face pain and swelling of the salivary glands and testicles. It's prevented by the second "M" in the MMR shot.

The outbreak, mostly in young adults, was the first sizable one in the region since 2008, according to the local department of health.

In the U.S., mumps outbreaks tend to occur on college campuses, at boarding schools, and in other settings with close quarters, Dr. Wharton says.

4 of 11

5 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Pennsylvania: Measles

mumps-virus-medical
Credit: Getty Images

Pennsylvania has had 13 cases of measles this year, as of August 2011, compared with two in 2010.

One person, diagnosed in July, may have initially exposed people in a Morgantown drugstore to the rash-causing virus.

Since then, authorities have been tracking down people in four different counties who came into contact with the patient at restaurants, a bank, a liquor store, a grocery, and a Starbucks.

5 of 11

6 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

New York: Measles

new-york-airplane-sky
Credit: Getty Images

New York State has had at least 13 measles cases in New York City alone in 2011. Half of the cases in NYC were international travelers, according to the city's Department of Health.

None of the cases were fatal. But international travel is so risky in terms of measles that health authorities now recommend that 6-to-11-month-old babies, who are usually considered too young to get the shot, be inoculated before going abroad, says Dr. Wharton.

Those children still need to get the normal two doses as planned, the first after their first birthday.

6 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Australia: Whooping cough

hospital-nursery-baby
Credit: Getty Images

A newborn died of pertussis in Melbourne early in 2011, the first such death since 2004, according to Australian news sources.

More than 21,000 cases of pertussis have been reported in Australia so far in 2011. In 2010 there were 34,790 cases for the entire year.

Nearby New Zealand has also had several recent outbreaks.

7 of 11

8 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Indiana: Measles

indiana-welcomes-you
Credit: Getty Images

Indiana had at least 14 measles cases in 2011, mostly in the northeastern part of the state.

Four cases were adults and the rest were people under 18. These are the first measles cases in Indiana since 2006, according to the Department of Health.

Measles protection requires two shots four weeks apart. One dose offers 92% protection, which is why two doses is the standard, says James Conway, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, in Madison.

8 of 11

9 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Europe: Measles

france-europe-map
Credit: Getty Images

Europe experienced a widespread measles epidemic in 2011.

In the first four months of the year alone, 33 countries reported more than 6,500 cases. France had the most, with nearly 5,000 people infected from January through March.

However, Belgium, Bulgaria, Serbia, Spain, and Turkey, among other nations, have reported cases since the outbreak began in September 2010.

9 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Australia: Measles

australia-bridge-sydney
Credit: Getty Images

Measles is also a problem in Australia, with some 122 cases reported for this year, as of August 2011, compared with 69 in 2010 and 105 in 2009.

Sydney, the nation's largest city, has had dozens of cases.

One health alert was issued in April in the state of Victoria after four people infected with measles disembarked an Air Asia flight from Malaysia in Melbourne.

That state has had 30 cases this year.

10 of 11

11 of 11

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

California: Measles

california-skyline
Credit: Getty Images

California has seen at least 20 cases of measles in 2011, compared with 27 in all of 2010 and nine in 2009. Seven children and 13 adults fell ill, but there have been no deaths so far, according to the California Department of Health.

The cases weren't connected to each other but were imported by travelers who had been in Europe, Asia, or Africa.

"We declared that measles had been eradicated in this country," says Dr. Conway. "Now we've already had more this year than any other already than 1996." As of August 2011, 154 cases of measles had been reported in the U.S.

11 of 11

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Amanda Gardner

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 11 Where are the outbreaks?
    2 of 11 California: Whooping cough
    3 of 11 Minnesota: Measles
    4 of 11 British Columbia: Mumps
    5 of 11 Pennsylvania: Measles
    6 of 11 New York: Measles
    7 of 11 Australia: Whooping cough
    8 of 11 Indiana: Measles
    9 of 11 Europe: Measles
    10 of 11 Australia: Measles
    11 of 11 California: Measles

    Share options

    Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

    Login

    Health.com

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Contact us
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Sitemap

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Other Meredith Sites

    Other Meredith Sites

    • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
    • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
    • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
    • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
    • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
    • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
    • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
    • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
    • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
    • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
    • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
    • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
    • More this link opens in a new tab
    • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
    • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
    • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
    • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
    • Parents this link opens in a new tab
    • People this link opens in a new tab
    • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
    • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
    • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
    • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
    • Shape this link opens in a new tab
    • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
    • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
    • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
    • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
    MeredithHealth.com is part of the Meredith Health Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. The material in this site is intended to be of general informational use and is not intended to constitute medical advice, probable diagnosis, or recommended treatments. All products and services featured are selected by our editors. Health.com may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.health.com

    View image

    10 Places With Measles or Other Outbreaks
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.