After 3 measles cases in Georgia, doctors fear outbreak here

ATLANTA — A measles outbreak is expanding this morning, and it's now in several states, including Georgia.

There are 38 confirmed cases in Washington state alone.

Health officials are worried it could continue to grow.

As long as people in the community aren't vaccinated, doctors say there is potential for an outbreak here.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, measles was eliminated in the United States in the year 2000, but other parts of the world still have it, and that is what keeps it alive.

The highly-contagious viral disease is known for the red rash it causes.

Measles is a person-to-person spread disease.

Doctors say by the time you see the rash it causes, many could have been infected.

A recent growing measles outbreak in Washington state caused the governor there to declare a state of emergency.

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One family has their little girl in quarantine.

Doctors believe Lilly, still too young for a vaccination, was put at risk by people who chose not to vaccinate their children.

"We’re freaking out at every little rash, every little cough, everything," Jeff Johnson, Lilly’s dad, said.

By Georgia law, school vaccinations are required for attendance unless a parent or guardian provides a religious or temporary medical exemption form. A temporary medical exemption can be granted for up to one year for specific vaccines.

The first dose of the measles vaccine is recommended for children at 12 to 15 months and another at 4 to 6 years.

“It not only protects the individual child who gets vaccinated, but it protects the community,” Emory Vaccine Center Associate Director Dr. Walt Orenstein said.

In Georgia, there have been three confirmed cases.

Doctors say measles can remain airborne for hours after an infected person has left a place, one reason clinicians expect this outbreak to last for months.