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42 Exposed To Measles At Nyack Hospital, Officials Say

Rockland County officials announced during a measles vaccine clinic that 42 people had recently been exposed to the measles virus at Montefiore Nyack Hospital.

Nyack Hospital

Nyack Hospital

Photo Credit: Contributed

The exposure included 11 children, four pregnant women and 20 people with unknown vaccination status, said Rockland County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert outside of the clinic on Friday, April 5.

She added that another seven people exposed were born before 1957.

"Nyack has done an outstanding job of notifying those people. ... We are very grateful," Ruppert said.

The hospital said anyone who may have been exposed has been notified.

Currently, Rockland County has 167 confirmed cases of measles and is under a state of emergency that went into effect on Wednesday, March 27.

Under the emergency, anyone who is under 18 years of age and unvaccinated against the measles will be barred from public places until the declaration expires in 30 days or until they have received the MMR vaccination.

Most of the cases are presently clustered in eastern Ramapo including New Square, Spring Valley, Monsey, however, due to Rockland County's small geographic size, exposure to the measles may occur anywhere in the county.

Common symptoms of the measles before the rash appears include high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes.

Free MMR vaccines are available by calling the Rockland County Department of Health at 845-364-2497 or 845-364-2520 to schedule an appointment to get a free MMR vaccine at the Pomona health complex.

Residents can get more information about measles by visiting https://bit.ly/2zh4v1G and by calling the New York State Department of Health toll-free Measles Information Line at (888) 364-4837.

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