The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department has released a statement after a new case of measles was discovered. Public health officials say this newest case is unrelated to the two previous ones on March 26 and March 6.
In this instance, a county resident who was traveling internationally contracted measles. County health officials say they are contacting all of the people who might have come into contact with the person while he or she was contagious, but the risk to the public is very low.
“This person was exposed to measles overseas, and further information about the individual will not be released for reasons of medical privacy,” said Public Health Communications Officer Britt Ehrhardt. “The Public Health Department provides public notification of exposure locations when we are unable to identify who may have been exposed. This is not the situation for this new measles case.”
The Public Health Department is stressing that this is not related to the March 26 incident where they were unable to identify who may have been exposed.
In that instance, an international tourist who was visiting Santa Clara County went to a number of different places in the county while infectious with measles. Many of those places were in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
Another incident of measles was reported on March 6, when it was discovered that a passenger who had measles was on an international flight that landed at San Francisco International Airport.
In that incident, the person was a Santa Cruz County resident and two people who flew with that person also contracted measles. One was from San Francisco and the other was from Santa Clara County.
Measles can develop anywhere between 7 and 21 days of exposure. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash. If you think you have contracted measles, you should contact your doctor immediately.
Never go to an emergency room or urgent care before calling ahead to tell them you might have been exposed to measles. Hospitals need time to take measures to protect other patients and visitors and prevent the spread of the virus.
County health officials stress that Santa Clara County has a very high rate of vaccination against measles which means most people are immune. People who have not been vaccinated, children that have not received the MMR vaccine and people with weakened immune systems should all be on the lookout for any possible symptoms.