Measles case found in traveler

Health department officials call outbreak risk low

A traveler returned to Oklahoma County after contracting measles overseas, but health officials say the risk to the public is low.

Still, the Oklahoma City-County Health Department urged residents to check their vaccination status, particularly if they intend to travel abroad.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The first signs are a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. White spots in the mouth and a red rash on the skin appear a few days later.

Most people develop symptoms one to two weeks after infection. Some people feel sick for as long as three weeks afterward.

The infected person visited a doctor’s office, but no other patients were in the waiting room at the time, said Megan Holderness, administrator of epidemiology at the county health department. Health officials don’t know of any other locations where the public could have been exposed, she said.

The patient “stayed home during the time they were infectious,” she said. “From the information we have now, there is a very low risk of exposure.”

Holderness urged parents to check with their children’s pediatrician to ensure they have received both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. The vaccine schedule calls for the first shot at about age 1, and a booster between ages 4 and 6. The two-shot combination is about 97 percent effective at preventing measles, according to the county health department.

About 1 out of every 1,000 children who develop measles dies from it. It also can cause complications including hearing loss and brain damage.

Adults born after 1957 also may be at risk if they have not received immunization shots or did not have measles when younger.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had declared measles eliminated from the United States in 2000, but unvaccinated travelers still can catch it overseas and spread it domestically to those who are vulnerable. The CDC urges the public to make sure they are up to date on measles shots, particularly if they intend to travel to England, France, Greece, Italy, Indonesia, the Philippines, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For more information on pre-travel vaccines, visit wwwnc.cdc.gov/ travel/destinations/list.