Health authorities issued a measles exposure warning on April 22 that might affect New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
State officials are concerned about individuals who possibly might have come into contact with a couple of European tourists who carried the highly contagious disease.
Measles Exposure Warning
As CBS reports, those tourists apparently went to a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness in New Jersey Avenue in Brooklyn on April 15 and then visited Watchtower Jehovah's Witness facilities in Paterson and Tuxedo Park. The state Department of Health has warned Hudson Valley residents about the itinerary of the two tourists. Those who think they might have measles symptoms should go to a doctor as soon as possible, medical officials said, as Mid Hudson Valley Patch reports.
Below is a list of places the tourists visited:
• April 15 — Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in New Jersey Avenue, Brooklyn.
• April 16 — Watchtower World Headquarters in Tuxedo Park, Orange County.
• April 17 — Watchtower Educational Center in Patterson, Putnam County.
It's crucial to be informed where the tourists were and on what dates because measles is an extremely contagious disease that is spread by coughing or sneezing. Worse, the virus is able to remain in an airspace for up to two hours and on surfaces where the infected person coughed or sneezed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected," info from CDC states. "Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90% of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected."
MMR Vaccine And Other Measles Info
The best way to prevent contracting measles is to get the MMR vaccine, which also insulates one from mumps, rubella, and chickenpox. The vaccine is only licensed for children who are 12 months through 12 years of age, CDC says. Those who had contracted measles once before is less likely to get it again later on.
Though measles is an unpleasant disease to have, the symptoms — which include fever, cough, red eyes, among others — typically dissipate in about 10 days.
Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000 thanks to a highly effective vaccination program, yet the disease is still common in many parts of the world. Every year, according to the CDC, measles is spread in countries by tourists who carry it.
