Officials: European Student with Measles Visited NH

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, (DHHS), Division of Public Health Services (DPHS) is investigating a possible measles situation in the state after officials learned that a European student who visited Massachusetts earlier this month was also in New Hampshire.

According to officials, the student visited Portsmouth on April 20, 2015. The only known “public exposure site” was a visit to the Flatbread Company Restaurant on Congress Street between 3 and 6 p.m. on the date in question.

“We are still in the early stages of investigating, but we do not anticipate a large outbreak because of the high vaccination rate of people in the State,” said Dr. Benjamin Chan, State Epidemiologist. “But it is possible there could be cases in New Hampshire related to travel by this individual. It is a good time for people to check their own vaccination status if they were born in or after 1957.”

NHDHHS recommends all people “review their vaccination status with their healthcare providers to ensure adequate immunity to measles.” Officials want anyone who was at the restaurant during the above time frame, who was born in 1957 or later, and who has not been adequately vaccinated for measles or found to have evidence of measles immunity, to contact the DHHS Division of Public Health Services at 603-271-4496 to discuss risks of infection and transmission of the virus.

For more information about measles prevention, download the DHHS Measles Fact Sheet at dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/documents/measles.pdf, visit the DHHS Immunization Program webpage at dhhs.nh.gov/immunization/index.htm,andvisit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at cdc.gov/measles/index.html.