By admin 
The measles outbreak that struck Sacramento and Placer counties has ended after no new cases were identified for more than 42 days, public health officials announced Tuesday afternoon.
Read more Dana White refutes Sean Strickland being banned from White House event, Strickland responds
Health officials declared the outbreak over after two full measles incubation periods — totaling 42 days — passed since symptom onset in the last identified case. All individuals who contracted the disease during the outbreak have also fully recovered, officials reported.
“Community members really stepped up,” Dr. Rob Oldham, the Placer County health officer, said in a statement. “The organizations associated with exposures worked with us to help educate people in their networks, and thankfully we were able to break the chain of transmission to bring this outbreak to a close.”
The regional outbreak began with an unvaccinated traveler who returned to Placer County from South Carolina, where the nation’s largest measles outbreak was taking place. Nineteen cases were linked to the Sacramento regional outbreak, including 11 identified in Sacramento County and eight in Placer County — nearly 40% of the 49 confirmed measles cases reported in California as of June 8.
Read more Red Sox likely to recall Jake Bennett in bid to avert sweep vs. Rays
County public health officials commended the quick community response, robust immunization coverage and cooperation with isolation and quarantine guidance for helping end the outbreak, but they encouraged the public to remain vigilant against measles.
“This outbreak may be over, but the conditions that allowed it to occur have not disappeared,” Dr. Phuong Luu, the Sacramento County public health officer, said in a statement. “The lesson from this outbreak is not that measles is harmless. The lesson is that vaccines work, community immunity works and maintaining high vaccination coverage remains essential to protecting those at risk.”
The measles virus was detected in Merced County wastewater June 5. While no clinical measles cases have been confirmed in the county, public health officials encouraged individuals to protect themselves by verifying their vaccination status before traveling or visiting crowded destinations.
Read more Gaines, Posey head to runoff in El Dorado County’s 4th District supervisors race