Second case of measles confirmed on Long Island

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Officials in Nassau County announced Long Island's second case of measles on Thursday.

According to the Long Island Rail Road, the unidentified person rode the train between Mineola and Penn Station last week at least four times from Wednesday to Sunday. 

“Measles is such a highly contagious disease, as we saw in the recent outbreak in Brooklyn that if it gets into the community there's real potential to spread,” said Leonard Krilov, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at NYU Winthrop Hospital.

Doctors say that a decrease in immunization rates has led to an increase in people at risk of contracting the disease and are recommending people to get the vaccine if they haven’t yet already. 

In response to the discovery, the LIRR released a statement that said in part: “…out of an abundance of caution, we’ve identified the trains and the stations that the person may have traveled on or walked through. We’ve instructed our car cleaning crews and station crews to give a full wipe down on areas where a person may have contact with in advance of the normal cyclical cleaning.”

Officials say that children under six months old, people who are pregnant, have compromised immune systems or have not been vaccinated are considered high-risk for contracting the measles. Symptoms include fever and a runny nose, followed by a rash.