VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — Health officials declared that the measles outbreak in Clark County is over.
The news was made Monday morning after six weeks with no new cases.
“We’re grateful to see this outbreak come to end without any deaths or serious complications,” Clark County health officer Dr. Alan Melnick said. “But as long as measles exists elsewhere in the world and people continue travel, we’re at risk of seeing another outbreak. We must improve our immunization rates to prevent future outbreaks and keep our children and other vulnerable people safe.”
During the months-long outbreak, health officials confirmed 71 cases of measles.
Two confirmed cases previously included in the Clark County total have been removed. Those two individuals moved to Georgia during the outbreak and are being counted in that state’s measles case numbers.
The outbreak began Jan 3 when laboratory testing confirmed measles in a child who traveled to Clark County from Ukraine. Based on the investigation that followed, health officials couldn’t determine whether this case was the source of the outbreak.
The local outbreak predominately affected children — 93% of the cases were children between the ages of 1-18. The outbreak also affected people who weren’t immunized.