Measles on the Move—Outbreak Spreads Beyond New York

So much for the geographical restrictions:

Measles outbreak spreads to Oklahoma as U.S. reports 41 new cases https://t.co/tgrpxCyFZA pic.twitter.com/Y2J8WZLcNA

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 20, 2019

More from Reuters:

The worst measles outbreak in the United States in 25 years has spread to Oklahoma, federal health officials said on Monday as they reported 41 new cases nationwide, raising the total number sickened this year to 880 people.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 4.9% increase in the number of measles cases from May 10 to May 17 in an outbreak that has now reached 24 states. The agency has been providing weekly updates every Monday.

The CDC said there had been one confirmed case in Oklahoma.

For those who never took a geography class or looked at a map: Oklahoma is nowhere near New York.

Sure, it’s only one case, but there will most likely be more. As I recently wrote, the majority of the cases are still in New York, but it is the tourist capital of the United States. The thought of anything contagious being contained there is pure folly. A recent outbreak in Michigan was started by one guy traveling in from… you guessed it… New York.

The outlook for this year isn’t good.

From the Reuters article:

Experts warn that the outbreak is not over as the number of cases approaches the 1994 total of 958. That was the highest number since 1992, when the CDC recorded 2,126 cases.

We may not be dealing with a pandemic here, but it is ridiculous that we’re worried about this at all. We aren’t even halfway through the year and no one knows where the next unwitting carrier may be traveling to now.