NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - People not vaccinated for the measles as required under a new public health order by the City of New York have 48 hours to do so before legal action could be taken.

"They will be fined $1,000 per instance," Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the city's health commissioner, told FOX 5 NY's morning program 'Good Day New York.' "For instance, if a parent has three children and one of them gets the measles, exposing the other two, the fine would be $3,000."

On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency in the wake of the rising number of measles cases centered in Williamsburg's Orthodox Jewish community. Health officials ordered nearly everyone in Williamsburg to be vaccinated for measles or face fines.

More than 280 people in Brooklyn and Queens have come down with measles since September.

The emergency declaration requires vaccinations for people exposed to the virus and applies to residents of four ZIP codes in Williamsburg. Children over 6 months old in the zone in question are also required to be vaccinated.

"The public health order requires everyone living in the zip codes of 11205, 11206, 11211, and 11249 to get vaccinated within the next 48 hours," Dr. Barbot said.

The health commissioner warned about the dangers of "measles parties."

"What we are hearing from the community is that people are having these gatherings and allowing their children to be exposed to the measles," she said.

Parents were allegedly allowing their children to be infected with measles in order to naturally immunize them and avoid the vaccination.

Once a person has become infected, no specific treatment is available, although supportive care may improve outcomes. Such care may include oral rehydration solution (slightly sweet and salty fluids), healthy food, and medications to control the fever.Antibiotics may be used if a secondary bacterial infection such as bacterial pneumonia occurs. Vitamin A supplementation is also recommended in the developing world.

Measles affects about 20 million people a year, primarily in the developing areas of Africa and Asia. While often regarded as a childhood illness, it can affect people of any age. It is one of the leading vaccine-preventable disease causes of death. In 1980, 2.6 million people died of it, and in 1990, 545,000 died; by 2014, global vaccination programs had reduced the number of deaths from measles to 73,000. Rates of disease and deaths, however, increased in 2017 due to a decrease in immunization.