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An Israeli flight attendant who flew from New York to Israel and contracted measles has died. Rotem Amitai was 43-years old and had been hospitalized for months.

There are currently 1,182 confirmed cases of measles in the United States. More than 75% of cases are linked to New York city. New York has been among the hardest hit by the virus. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has declared a public emergency in parts of Brooklyn experiencing a measles outbreak. The declaration requires that unvaccinated peoples get vaccines or pay fines. The outbreak is most heavily effecting the Orthodox Jewish community Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. A judge in Brooklyn ruled against a group of parents who attempted to challenge the mandatory measles vaccinations order. The parents claimed the city’s public health authority exceeded its bounds. New York lawmakers have also suggested a bill that ends religious vaccine exemptions amidst a measles outbreak. 

The rise in measles outbreaks have led to an increased outcry against the anti-vaccine movement. GoFundMe recently announced plans to put a stop anti-vaccination fundraisers that help spread the anti-vaccination message. This decision follows a rash of disease outbreaks. Unvaccinated children are causing outbreaks all over the world, especially of measles. The anti-vaccination movement is spurred by the (mistaken) belief that vaccines are tied to autism. Not that it will matter to the anti-vaccination crowd, but another study involving over 650,000 vaccinated children has just demonstrated with a respectable degree of certainty that there is no connection between autism and vaccines.

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