On Tuesday, health officials have identified one measles case in Salem.
A traveler from Illinois, contagious with measles had visited the Salem area in late February. The case is found to be connected to the same traveler. However, this measles’s case is unrelated to the ongoing outbreak in Washington, Clark, and Multnomah regions, according to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) official’s release.
County’s public health director Katrina Rothenberger from Marion County said the officials are monitoring the patient and awaiting lab test reports on another suspect whose reports should be available in the next 48 hours. The county was not releasing the patient’s age or gender, but said they are not a student at any public or private school, added Katrina Rothenberger.
The county is working with the OHA for making people aware of their potential exposure and guiding them to take steps to prevent exposing others.
Meanwhile, vaccination is given to most Oregonians, thus having a low risk of catching the disease, whereas for the unvaccinated individuals, the risk could be greater. The individuals exposed to the following locations could be at stake:
- Youth With a Mission, 7085 Battle Creek Road SE, Salem, between 7 a.m. on Feb. 18 and 5 p.m. on March 11.
- Get Air Trampoline Park, 3910 Rickey St. SE, Salem, from 1:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 21
- Red Robin, 831 Lancaster Dr. NE, Salem, from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 21
- Portland International Airport: Southwest Airlines check-in area and Concourse C, from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 22
You can find a complete list of Oregon exposure sites on the OHA measles webpage.
Health administrators started actively monitoring unvaccinated citizens since March 1 when the traveler with measles visited several locations in Salem, said Rothenberger.
The person with the confirmed case was “advised to stay in their home and not go out to public places, and we’re pretty confident that happened,” she said.
Health officials are urging people to avoid visiting the doctor if they are not vaccinated and have been exposed with any signs of measles. Rather, they are requested to call a doctor via telephone to avoid exposing non-vaccinated individuals in the hospital waiting rooms. The health officials have provided with a contact number for any queries related to Measles and one should call (503) 588-5621 between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday.
