Measles cases in U.S. top 700

The measles case count in the U.S. has climbed to 704, the CDC just announced. This makes 2019 the year with the most cases in nearly 25 years, including since the disease was considered eliminated from the U.S. in 2000. The cases span 22 states, where 66 children have been hospitalized as a result. Most of the infections have been concentrated in New York, where two outbreaks — in Brooklyn and in Rockland County, north of Manhattan — account for 67% of the total cases nationwide. Nearly three-quarters of the people who have been sickened by measles are unvaccinated, according to the CDC. The outbreak in the Pacific Northwest was declared over yesterday; 71 people fell sick in Southwest Washington, in an episode that cost the local county nearly $865,000.