Officials In NY County Declare State Of Emergency Due To Measles

Rockland County in New York has now declared a state of emergency, after more than 100 people have been diagnosed with measles, according to ABC News .

Officials in NY county declared the state of emergency after more than 100 people were diagnosed with measles. Sadly, 83.7% of them were 18 years old or younger.

"In order to prevent any more children from falling ill...I am today declaring a countywide state of emergency."

Officials announced that starting at midnight on Wednesday, anyone under the age of 18 who has not been vaccinated against the virus will be banned from public places until they receive the MMR vaccine or until the emergency declaration expires next month.

At this point, it's unclear how this ban will be enforced.

ABC reported that measles outbreaks in the state of New York began in October and have gone on longer and infected more people than any other current outbreak in the country, according to Kaiser Health News. Through the first week of March, 275 cases had been confirmed statewide, but that number has likely risen since.

John Lyon, director of strategic communications for County Executive Ed Day had this to say:

"We're not punishing the people who are doing the right thing already and following the rules. We just want to encourage everyone to do the right thing so we can stop this outbreak," Lyon said. The step is "extremely unusual. [We] don't believe it's been done anywhere in the country before."

This is the 26th week -- the sixth month -- of the outbreak in Rockland County, according to Lyon, who said it has been the longest outbreak in the United States since before measles was declared eliminated in 2000.

To learn more about the virus, click on this information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.