WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2019) The United States has almost 1,300 cases of measles this year, the most in nearly two decades, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday.
"From January 1 to December 5, 2019, 1,276 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 31 states. CDC will now be updating these data monthly," the CDC said in an update on its website. "This is the greatest number of cases reported in the US since 1992."
Eight cases were reported in November alone, the agency said, adding that it would issue monthly updates hereon on the nation's statistics with the disease.
It said 75% of the cases were linked to recent outbreaks in the state of New York.
New York aside, states with measles outbreaks included California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.
All the reported cases involved measles of the wild-type D8 or B3, the CDC said. The majority of cases were among people who were not vaccinated against measles.
The CDC said those affected could have serious complications, adding that 61 of this year's cases had resulted in complications that included pneumonia and encephalitis.
