New York City officials declared a public health emergency on Tuesday after almost 300 cases of measles in the city, announcing fines of up to $1,000 if people disobey the mandatory vaccination order.

"This is the epicenter of a measles outbreak that is very, very troubling and must be dealt with immediately," said Mayor Bill de Blasio, during a press conference in Williamsburg, where the outbreak is occurring in Orthodox Jewish communities.



De Blasio decried anti-vaxxer misinformation campaigns targeting parents, and the health commissioner warned parents were having "measles parties" to infect their children with measles and to naturally immunize them — and avoid the vaccination.



The order says that anyone who lives, works, or studies in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — zip codes 11205, 11206, 11211, and 11249 — must be vaccinated for measles or have proof of immunity, meaning they've had measles before and developed antibodies. If not, they could face fines of up to $1,000.



"The problem is, there's nothing more difficult to contain than a measles epidemic," Peter Hotez, professor of pediatrics and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Texas's Baylor College of Medicine, told BuzzFeed News. "The measles virus is the most highly transmissible virus we know about."


The city saw only two cases of measles in 2017. In 2018, that jumped to 56, with an outbreak beginning in October. So far in 2019, 229 people have been sick.



Authorities are asking parents covered by the order to vaccinate babies from 6 months of age. Traditionally babies are not given the measles vaccination until they're 12 months old.

That means babies given the vaccine at 6 months will have to be revaccinated at 12 months as they could still have had many maternal antibodies that would affect the vaccine's effectiveness, said Hotez.

Nearly 250 people affected in the Brooklyn measles outbreak are children, most of whom had been unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated (after an initial vaccine, a booster is needed a few years later). So far, 21 people have been hospitalized and five admitted to intensive care.

