NEW YORK (PIX11) -- A highly contagious unwellness that tin origin pneumonia, swelling of the brain, miscarriage, and adjacent death, has been reported successful New York City.

Measles is simply a highly contagious microorganism that tin infect up to 90% of unvaccinated radical who travel successful adjacent proximity to an infected person, according to the New York City Department of Health.

In 2024, New York State reported 15 cases, 14 of which were successful New York City. The biggest outbreak successful New York City implicit the past decennary was successful 2019 with 605 confirmed cases.

In summation to the 2 confirmed cases successful New York City, respective measles cases were precocious reported in New Jersey. In 1 case, a diligent who was unvaccinated traveled extracurricular of the U.S. and became sick with the unwellness aft returning location to New Jersey, according to the authorities section of health.

Two different unvaccinated radical contracted the highly contagious unwellness from the archetypal patient, the New Jersey wellness section said.  

What is measles?

It’s a respiratory illness caused by 1 of the world’s astir contagious viruses. The microorganism is airborne and spreads easy erstwhile an infected idiosyncratic breathes, sneezes, oregon coughs. It astir commonly affects kids.

Measles archetypal infects the respiratory tract, and past spreads passim the body, causing a precocious fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes, and a rash.

The rash mostly appears 3 to 5 days aft the archetypal symptoms, opening arsenic level reddish spots connected the look and past spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet. When the rash appears, the fever whitethorn spike implicit 104 degrees, according to the CDC.

There’s nary circumstantial attraction for measles, but wellness officials accidental that radical who person had measles erstwhile cannot get it again.

How tin you forestall measles?

The champion mode to debar measles is to get the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The archetypal changeable is recommended for children betwixt 12 and 15 months aged and the 2nd betwixt 4 and 6 years old.

Vaccination rates person declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, and astir states are beneath the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to support communities against measles outbreaks.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.