Measles Outbreak In 21 States, Including Pennsylvania: CDC

Pennsylvania 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. The agency did not break down the numbers by state, but the Pennsylvania Department of Health said there have been two cases of confirmed measles to date in 2018.

Nate Wardle, the department's press secretary, said these cases are not known to be connected. Pennsylvania has had at least one measles case in eight of the last 10 years, with an average of four cases a year.

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).

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.

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