LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. —
Pennsylvania reported 28 more measles cases on Friday, bringing the number of cases to 1,426.
Lancaster County still leads the state with 493 cases.
The state says Epi-Aid, provided by the CDC, which arrived on October 16, will remain on site through November 6, a little over a week longer than initially scheduled.
The Epi-Aid assistance is enhancing the state’s work with Pennsylvania’s own “disease detectives.”
Vaccination rates have long been low among the Amish and are now falling in the general population, creating the perfect conditions for the contagious virus, a disease officially considered “eliminated” from the U.S. since 2000, to spread.
“There is no theological or religious objection to vaccination among these groups, there never has been. I think it’s fair to say that historically, these are populations that have been often quite under-immunized,” said Steven Nolt, a professor at Elizabethtown College.
“There have always been people in our community, and it’s not just the plain community. It is really people that have chosen to believe that the vaccine is not safe and then do not get vaccinated,” said Lancaster County Commissioner Alice Yoder.
Lancaster County is the largest county in Pennsylvania that does not have a health department.
Many in the plain community are also now showing a new openness to vaccines.