LA Measles Patient Visited Disneyland, Starbucks While Infectious

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Los Angeles measles patient went to Disneyland, two busy Westside Starbucks and Factor's Famous Deli, recently, raising concerns of a potential outbreak that health officials have been working hard to stave off all year.

Los Angeles County health officials confirmed the case of measles and determined the patient visited a Palms-area Starbucks before spending the day at Disneyland on Oct. 16. People who believe they may have crossed paths with the measles patient should double check their immunization status and call their doctor if they suspect they may be infected. This latest case of a measles infection is one of the more worrisome simply because of the sheer number of people the patient encountered while infectious. The last large outbreak of measles in California this century was associated with Disneyland in December 2014 when a guest spread the infection among several park visitors.

Health officials said the person could have exposed others during these times at these locations on Oct. 16 and 17:

• 7:20 to 9:35 a.m. Oct. 15 at Starbucks, 2215 Westwood Blvd., LosAngeles;
• 7:50 to 10 a.m. Oct. 16 at Starbucks, 3006 S. Sepulveda Blvd., LosAngeles;
• 9:15 a.m to 8:35 p.m. Oct. 16 at Disneyland in Anaheim;
• 5:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 17 at Factor's Famous Deli, 9420 W. Pico Blvd.,Los Angeles.

Anyone who doesn't have immunity and thinks they may have been exposed at those locations should call a health care provider. People who are exposed can develop measles up to 21 days after exposure.

The latest case brings to 19 the number of measles infections among county residents this year, in addition to 11 among non-residents who traveled through the county — excluding Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own health departments and track their own cases.

The measles virus —rubeola — causes fevers and rashes and is highly contagious. It lives in the nose and throat mucus and spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can even live for up to two hours in an airspace where an infected person has coughed or sneezed. Any unvaccinated person can contract the virus at any age.

“If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses or mouths, they can become infected,” the CDC wrote on its website. “Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, up to 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected.”

Furthermore, infected people can spread the virus up to four days before and after a rash appears, meaning they could be unknowingly causing others to fall ill. Measles cases had been exceptionally uncommon in the United States due to the population’s high vaccination rate. But that’s not true in other parts of the world, including some countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Maggie Fusek contributed to this report.