This year, the United States has reported more than 700 measles cases with hundreds in quarantine, according to federal health officials. In fact, it has been considered the largest outbreak since 2000, the year when the officials declared measles is eliminated from the country. However, it is continuing to spread and officials blame the anti-vaccine movement.
Recently, public health officials have warned that the first known case of measles in Orange County, California went to a midnight screening of Avengers: Endgame. The woman is the resident of Placentia, California, which is a city in Orange County.
The Los Angeles Times reported that health officials are warning people that she might have exposed the infection in the area. She reportedly caught the disease while traveling abroad at a country that is experiencing a measles outbreak and it is still unclear whether she was vaccinated.
The CDC has reported that more than 500 of the 704 reported measles cases were those who had not been vaccinated.
The Los Angeles Times reported that after she contracted measles, she went to work for several days and to the midnight premiere of Avengers: Endgame in Fullerton, a city in Orange County.
Mercury News reported that the county’s health care department warned the AMC Theater on Lemon Street in the city between 11 pm and 4 am on April 25 for a possible exposure spot.
It is still unclear what the patient’s status is or if there have been other people who have been exposed to the infection.
California is among the 22 states that have been hit hardest by the measles outbreak this year. According to a CDC report, there are 38 confirmed measles cases as of April 24, with 14 of them contracting the infection traveling abroad and most of them were reportedly not vaccinated.
The woman went to watch the massively attended Avengers: Endgame film before she realized that she had measles. She was the first reported case in Orange County. The C.D.C.’s director for immunization Dr. Nancy Messonnier said at a news conference, “The longer this continues, the greater the chances that measles will again get a foothold in the United States.”
