The measles outbreak which started at Disneyland appears to be continuing to spread across the United States, alarming even parents of children vaccinated against the disease.
Officials in Michigan confirmed on Friday that an adult in Oakland County had been diagnosed with measles suggesting the outbreak is zigzagging east from the theme park in California.
Six other states – Utah, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Nebraska and Arizona, plus Mexico – have recorded cases since a young woman, dubbed patient zero, fell sick at Disneyland just before Christmas.
There are now an estimated 100 cases in the US, most in California.
Hospitals and doctors’ offices in the state expect a continued spike in requests for vaccinations and advice.
The outbreak has shone a light on parents who delay inoculating, or refuse to inoculate, their children over concerns about vaccine safety. They dispute assurances from the medical establishment that vaccines are safe and effective.
Most of those infected have not been vaccinated. However, a small number has fallen ill despite inoculation – worrying some who fear their inoculated children may succumb.
“People who have had the shot can get the virus. That to me is terrifying,” Cassandra Politzer Wiseman, a mother in Malibu with three inoculated children, said on Monday. Her 17-year-old son played soccer across southern California, increasing his chances of exposure, she said.
A freshman baseball coach at nearby Santa Monica high school was diagnosed with measles last week.
Politzer Wiseman faulted parents who did not inoculate their children for spreading the virus. “We’ve stopped believing in science. That makes me furious.”