WASHINGTON STATE – With over 40 measles cases in Washington State, leading Governor Inslee to declare a state of emergency last week, health officials are keeping an eye on a problem that was literally eradicated in the U.S. in the year 2000 as a result of immunization.

Almost all the cases have been diagnosed in the Vancouver area in southwest Washington, with a few more spilling into nearby Portland, Oregon. Virtually every case has occurred in people who were not vaccinated, and are presumed to have originated from a foreign visitor.

There has now been a confirmed case of measles in King County, getting closer to home. We talked with Clallam County Public Health Officer Allison Berry Unthank and asked if she knew what the vaccination rate is here in our area.

Unthank says that anyone born before 1957 is considered immune to measles because measles was common at the time. Nine out of 10 unvaccinated people who are exposed will get the disease.