Measles outbreak linked to Disneyland may be officially over

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- If no new cases pop up, the measles outbreak in California that was linked to Disneyland could officially be declared over.

According to the California Department of Public Health, if there are no new cases found, the outbreak will be declared over on Friday.

The outbreak started at Disneyland in December and spread to several other states and countries. In all, 131 people in California were infected.

The outbreak reignited the debate about young children receiving the measles vaccination. Many who fell ill were not immunized or only had one dose of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.

While measles has been declared eliminated from the U.S. for years, outbreaks still occur because the virus can be imported from overseas and spread among people who skip shots for personal reasons or who are too young to be immunized.

Disease detectives have said they likely may never find patient zero - or the person who triggered the outbreak - but believe it's someone who brought measles into the country.

There is now a bill that would prevent unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children from going to public and private schools.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.