N.Y. county declares measles emergency, seeks to ban unvaccinated children from public places

As part of an emergency declaration over measles yesterday, Rockland County, N.Y., took the extraordinary step of banning unvaccinated children from enclosed public places. That order extends to all schools, houses of worship, and shopping malls in the county, located north of New York City, which has been fighting measles since last October. There have been 153 cases in the outbreak so far, the largest outbreak among several currently happening in the U.S. — and the longest outbreak since the U.S. was declared free of endemic measles in 2000. It’s unclear how the ban, which will be in effect for the 30-day state of emergency, would be enforced.