Associated Press

ASHEVILLE — The largest outbreak of chickenpox in North Carolina since the vaccine was introduced in 1995 has spread outside the school where it was first reported.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that four people in the community have joined the 37 Asheville Waldorf School students who have contracted chickenpox since last month.

Buncombe County health department spokeswoman Stacey Wood says the most recent onset of rash was Monday. She wouldn’t say whether the four cases outside the school were in parents or friends of sickened students.

More than 100 of the school’s 152 students were unvaccinated and thus quarantined for three weeks. A judge struck down a portion of the quarantine order, ruling the county had the authority to keep children out of school but couldn’t prevent them from leaving home.