Measles Outbreak In 21 States, Including California: CDC

California is among 21 states impacted by a nationwide measles outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, at least 107 cases have been identified, according to the CDC. All cases were linked to international travel. The DOH is currently not investigating any new cases.

From January 1 through July 14, 107 people from 21 states and the District of Columbia were infected. Those states are: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

In 2017, 118 people from 15 states and the District of Columbia were reported to have measles, according to the CDC, so the number of 2018 cases should easily outpace last year's total. In 2016, 86 people from 19 states were reported to have measles.

In 2014, the United States experienced a record number of measles cases, with 667 cases from 27 states reported to CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news from your California neighborhood. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app. Also, be sure to follow your local Patch on Facebook!)

The majority of people who got measles were unvaccinated, according to the CDC. The symptoms of measles generally appear about seven to 14 days after a person is infected.

Measles typically begins with:

• High fever,
• Cough,
• Runny nose (coryza), and
• Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis).

Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth.
Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash breaks out. It usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet. Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots, according to the CDC.

The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body. When the rash appears, a person's fever may spike to more than 104 degrees.

By Tom Davis, Patch National Staff

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