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Measles continues to spread in the United States, federal health officials said on Monday, surpassing 700 cases this year as health officials around the country sought aggressive action to stem the worst outbreak in decades. In New York, an epicenter of the outbreak, city officials closed two more schools for Orthodox Jewish children for failing to comply with an order to exclude unvaccinated children. (McNeil, 4/29)

“We are very concerned about the recent troubling rise in cases of measles,” Azar said in a briefing with reporters. Measles is not a harmless illness but one with deadly consequences that most people, even doctors, have never seen because it was eliminated in 2000. “Vaccine-preventable diseases belong in the history books, not in our emergency rooms. The suffering we are seeing today is completely avoidable. Vaccines are safe because they are among the most-studied medical products we have,” Azar said. (Sun, 4/29)

A measles outbreak that sickened more than 70 people, mostly children, in the Pacific Northwest is finally over even as the total number of cases nationwide continues to spike to near-record levels , officials said Monday. Six weeks have passed without a new infection in southwest Washington state, where the outbreak began on Jan. 3, said Dr. Alan Melnick, head of the Clark County public health department. (Flaccus, 4/29)

The Clark County measles outbreak is officially over, public health authorities announced Monday morning. That marks 42 days -- two cycles of a measles infection -- without a new case. The largest outbreak in the Northwest since measles was eliminated in 2000 and one of the largest in the country during a year of record-setting measles cases, the outbreak on the border cost public health authorities nearly $1 million and lasted 75 days. (Harbarger, 4/29)

Federal officials said Monday they are concerned that the measles virus could gain a foothold again in the U.S. if current outbreaks—particularly one in New York City under way since last October—aren’t brought to heel. The disease was officially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, meaning that it stopped circulating continuously. “Vaccine-preventable diseases belong in the history books, not our emergency rooms,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a telephone briefing. The vast majority of this year’s measles cases involve children who haven’t been vaccinated, Mr. Azar said, but they also include some adults who were vaccinated. (McKay, 4/29)

CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said the agency was working with local and state health departments and healthcare providers to promote CDC vaccination recommendations. Treating measles with supportive care can be very expensive, costing an average of $32,000 per case, Messonnier said. (Johnson, 4/29)

Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the outbreaks won’t stop unless community members, health officials and other groups like rabbinical associations work together to identify unvaccinated people at risk of infection. “We should expect to see additional cases. These outbreaks can end with all groups working together, but we can expect to see additional cases before this is over,” Messonnier said. (Weixel, 4/29)

Much of the spread so far this year has occurred in groups of people who were either not immunized or underimmunized and part of close-knit groups, the CDC reported. In fact, such cases account for 88% of the total thus far this year. (Branswell, 4/29)

HHS Secretary Alex Azar said Monday that a measles outbreak had infected at least 704 people, the highest number recorded in 25 years, and praised President Donald Trump for urging U.S. parents to vaccinate their children after years of stating that vaccines cause autism. Azar said Trump's statements during the 2016 campaign linking vaccination to autism were based on a “debate about this issue but it’s been settled. The scientific community generated definitive information so we can reassure every parent there is no link.” (Allen, 4/29)

Officials in New York closed more schools, issued more fines and lobbied the Legislature to eliminate religious exemptions for required vaccinations as part of efforts to contain a measles outbreak. Federal officials have reported 704 measles cases so far in the U.S. since Jan. 1. New York City and suburban Rockland County account for the majority of the cases, almost all among members of Orthodox Jewish communities. (Carola, 4/29)

Almost two-thirds of the nearly 800 students, faculty and staff members who were quarantined following exposure to the measles virus at two Los Angeles universities have been cleared to resume normal activities. The quarantine marked one of the most sweeping efforts by authorities to contain the nation’s measles outbreak, where cases have reached a 25-year high. (4/29)

Los Angeles County officials dealing with a measles outbreak say they expect that more people will be diagnosed with the illness in the coming weeks, while the nation stares down what will likely be its worst measles year in decades. But where are these cases coming from? The U.S. declared measles eliminated in 2000, and the virus does not regularly circulate here. (Karlamangla, 4/29)

The Democrats who control the Colorado Senate are starting to prioritize bills as time runs out for the 2019 legislative session, and a controversial bill on childhood vaccinations isn’t on the high-priority list. “We have a handful of bills that we absolutely want to make sure happen by Friday at midnight,” Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, said during a meeting with reporters Monday. “And then we have a list of bills that we hope can happen, but they’re not absolutely must-dos.” (Staver, 4/29)