Lane County measles case first in Oregon tied to Disneyland outbreak
Published: Jan. 20, 2015, 9:39 p.m.
Robbie DiMesio | The Oregonian/OregonLive
At least four dozen people, nearly all from California, have contracted measles either during a mid-December visit to a Disney theme park or after coming into contact with someone who went there.
(The Associated Press/file )
Public health officials in Lane County confirmed what appears to be Oregon's first case of measles tied to last month's outbreak at Disney theme parks.
The latest case, the first in Lane County since 2007, would be at least the 48th involving people who visited Disneyland or Disney California Adventure Park in late December. Forty-one of the patients are from California and two are from Washington state, according to the California Department of Public Health. Cases also have been reported in Utah, Colorado and Mexico.
Most of the patients had not been vaccinated, California officials said. It was unclear whether the Lane County patient had been immunized.
Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but health officials have seen a surge of infections throughout the country in recent years. Oregon, which has the nation's highest rate of nonimmunized children, reported five cases in 2014 and 22 since 2005.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, measles is a highly contagious virus that lives in an infected person's nose and throat mucus and spreads through coughing and sneezing.
"Also, measles virus can live for up to two hours on a surface or in an airspace where the infected person coughed or sneezed," the center's website says. "If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected."
Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes and a red rash that usually first appears on the face and spreads to the rest of the body.
"The best way to protect yourself from the virus is to get the MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) vaccine," said Dr. Patrick Luedtke, Lane County's public health director.
"Most people got it when they were less than a year old, but it is never too late to protect yourself," he said in a news release.
Public health officials are conducting an epidemiological investigation to determine the potential reach of the Lane County case. For more information, contact Lane County Public Health at 541-682-4041.
-- Robbie Olivas DiMesio