POUGHKEEPSIE – A lone case of measles
has been confirmed in Dutchess County after it was determined that a Bard
College student had contracted the illness. The case was confirmed on
Thursday evening, January 29.
The county Department of Health is working with the college, the Centers
for Disease Control, state health department, local hospitals and emergency
responders because the student had traveled on an Amtrak train creating
the possibility of exposure beyond the college campus.
Since the case was confirmed, the college has notified the campus community
and the county health department held a measles vaccination clinic on
Friday for students, faculty and staff who had not been vaccinated against
measles. Over 120 staff and students on campus availed themselves of the
shots. Fully vaccinated people are not considered at risk due to the high
efficacy of the vaccine.
The college student with measles had ridden Amtrak train #283, departing
New York Penn Station at 1:20 p.m. on January 25.
The train stopped in Croton-Harman and traveled through Garrison and Cold
Spring before making its next stop in Poughkeepsie. It then traveled to
Albany and Niagara Falls.
The state health department is recommending that anyone on that train
who is not immune to measures or not sure of their immunity, should contact
their primary care physician if they become ill with fever.
