Lane County confirms case of measles

Lane County Public Health officials said Tuesday they have confirmed a case of measles in the county.

Currently, it is believed that this case is linked epidemiologically to the Disneyland Cluster in Southern California and is the first in Lane County since 2007.

Spokesman Jason Davis says the case involves a Eugene man in his 40s who went with his family to a Disney park in the outbreak area, traveled back to Eugene, began displaying symptoms and went to a medical provider.

Davis says he believes this is the first Oregon case linked to the Disney parks outbreak.

Several dozen measles cases have emerged in California, the states of Utah, Washington and Colorado, and Mexico.

The virus spreads easily by air. Symptoms include fever, runny nose, cough and a blotchy rash.

Officials confirmed Tuesday that several Disneyland employees have been diagnosed with measles, bringing the total number of cases to 53. Two of those workers had been vaccinated, Orange County health care officials told the Los Angeles Times.

Measles is an acute, highly contagious viral disease that begins with flu-like symptoms that progress into high fever and a rash that covers the whole body.

Symptoms usually take 10-12 days to appear, and an individual is able to transmit the virus from four days prior to four days after rash onset.

Measles is rarely life-threatening, but those with very young children, people who are older, or people with suppressed immune systems are at a higher risk of pneumonia, brain infection, and death.

“The best way to protect yourself from the virus is to get the MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) vaccine. Most people got it when they were less than a year old, but it is never too late to protect yourself,” said Dr. Patrick Luedtke, Public Health Officer of Lane County.

In Oregon, two doses of measles vaccination, given at least four weeks apart, have been required for school children since 1998. People are considered immune to measles if they received these vaccinations or if they have had measles in their lifetime.

Lane County Public Health is conducting a full epidemiological investigation to determine the potential reach and contacts of this case, the agency said.

If you think that you may have measles, stay home and call your health care provider from there. Don’t go into the doctor’s office or clinic, because you may be putting those around you at unnecessary risk.