Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Measles Outbreak May Have Started In City Medical Facilities
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 19, 2014
Modified Mar 19, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 19, 2014
Modified Mar 19, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The measles outbreak that has thus far infected 20 people in three boroughs may have started in hospitals and doctor's offices in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, according to health officials.
The Times reports this morning that the city's Department of Health suspects the outbreak got its start in medical facilities, and it may have worsened because workers failed to recognize and isolate ailing patients in time. "We know a number of people were exposed and possibly got their infection either at a doctor’s office or at an emergency room where they went and it took more time than it should have for them to be put in an isolation area where they couldn’t possibly infect anyone else,” Dr. Jay Varma, the health department’s deputy commissioner for disease control, told the paper.
Nine children and 11 adults have been diagnosed with the highly contagious viral disease thus far, with a new adult patient confirmed this week. And though authorities haven't named any specific hospitals that may have dropped the ball on identifying the outbreak, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in Upper Manhattan confirmed earlier this month that it has treated 10 measles patients, and up to 600 more may have been exposed. A spokesperson for the hospital noted that "to the best of our knowledge, none of the patients who were seen in our emergency room got measles here in our emergency room."
Seven of the children who contracted the disease were too young to be vaccinated, and two were refused vaccination by their parents. Measles was all but eliminated in the United States by the year 2000 thanks to the vaccination, but in 2011 there were 222 measles cases reported. Of the US residents who contracted the virus, 166 were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status.
Tagged
brooklyn
disease
manhattan
measles
sickness
the bronx vaccination
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .