More than 1,000 get mumps in New York, New Jersey since August
More than 1,000 people in New Jersey and New York, many of them adolescent Orthodox Jews, have been sickened with mumps since August, health authorities said Monday.
Orange County, New York, has confirmed 494 cases since early November, county spokesman Richard Mayfield told CNN. Almost all of those infected with the virus are of the Orthodox or Hasidic Jewish population, and their average age is 14, he said.
Neighboring Rockland County has confirmed 317 cases since August, with all of the sick from the Orthodox Jewish community, said Kathleen Henry, county Deputy Commissioner of Health. Their average is 14 to 18, she said.
Just north of the two counties, in New York City, Brooklyn had 79 confirmed cases of mumps as of October 30, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in November. Any confirmation of other infections in the city are expected to be announced Tuesday.
The mumps outbreak began at a summer camp for Orthodox Jewish boys in Sullivan County, New York, according to the CDC. Health officials have linked the outbreak to an 11-year-old boy at the camp. He had recently returned from the United Kingdom, where a mumps outbreak had spread to 4,000 people.
The mumps outbreak also spread to Ocean County, New Jersey, where 159 confirmed cases have been diagnosed since September, county spokeswoman Leslie Terjesen told CNN. An additional 70 others are suspected of having mumps, she said.
Only seven of the infected are not Orthodox Jewish, but they all had exposure to the community, Terjesen said. The average age of the sick is 21, she said.
Lakewood, New Jersey, Rabbi Yehunda Pirutinsky was surprised when his 14-year-old son was diagnosed with mumps a week ago. Lakewood is in Ocean County.
“He was completely vaccinated,” Pirutinsky said. “So it was a surprise to us he came down with mumps.”
Anyone fully vaccinated from mumps receives two doses of the vaccine, according to the CDC. Of the New Jersey cases, 77 percent were vaccinated, Terjesen said.
But the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, according to the CDC. At two doses, the vaccine is 76 to 95 percent effective, the CDC says on its Web site.
To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.
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