REUTERS: The United States recorded 71 new measles cases last week, a 13 per cent increase as the country faces its second-worst outbreak of the disease in almost two decades, federal health officials said on Monday .
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had recorded 626 cases of the highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease in 22 states as of Apr 19, the highest rate of infection in five years.The CDC had previously reported 555 cases in 20 states between Jan 1 and Apr 11. The current outbreak will likely surpass the 2014 outbreak in number of cases, the CDC said on Monday.
The US outbreak is part of a worldwide rise in the once nearly eradicated disease. The World Health Organization reported last week that global cases had risen nearly four-fold in the first quarter of 2019 to 112,163 compared with the same period last year.A vocal fringe of parents in the United States oppose vaccines believing, contrary to scientific evidence, that ingredients in them can cause autism or other disorders.
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