LOS ANGELES — A measles outbreak that began at Disneyland is spreading across California and beyond, prompting health officials to move aggressively to contain it — including by barring unvaccinated students from going to school in Orange County. The outbreak has increased concerns that a longstanding movement against childhood vaccinations has created a surge in a disease that was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000.
Heath officials said 59 cases of measles had been diagnosed in California as of Wednesday, with an additional eight related cases spread through Utah, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Mexico. Among those infected are five workers at Disneyland, where the outbreak was spotted in mid-December; 42 of the 59 California cases have been linked to the Disneyland outbreak.
The cases were a continuation of what health officials said was a worrisome increase in measles in Orange County and other places where parents had resisted the urging of health professionals to inoculate their children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 644 cases of measles from 27 states last year, by far the largest number since 2000.
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The battle has moved to state legislatures, where lawmakers have sought to make it easier for parents to obtain exemptions from vaccination requirements. However, all 31 bills introduced from 2009 to 2012 that would have loosened the exemption process were defeated, said Saad B. Omer, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Emory University who studies vaccine refusal. Three out of five bills that sought to tighten the requirement passed, he said.
California tightened its “personal belief” exemption law last year, requiring parents to submit a form signed by a health care provider. But Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, added a religious exemption at the last minute; parents who choose that option do not need a doctor’s signature.
Adam Nagourney reported from Los Angeles, and Abby Goodnough from Washington.
