Health Officials Warn Of Measles Exposure At UCLA Food Court
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) —The L.A. County Department of Health is looking to identify people who may have been exposed to a UCLA campus employee who has contracted measles.
The individual was having lunch at UCLA's Court of Sciences food court on July 2 and July 3 and is believed to have been contagious then. The Daily Bruin reports the employee was eating at Subway.
According to the Department of Health, no known current risk related to measles exists at the location at this time and the case is not related to the previous measles exposure at UCLA.
Anyone at that location on those dates may be at risk of developing measles for up to 21 days after being exposed. The Department of Public Health is advising people who could have been exposed to do the following:
- Review their immunization and medical records to determine if they are protected against measles;
- Talk with a health care provider about receiving measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) immunization if you have not been immunized;
- Contact and notify their health care provider as soon as possible about a potential exposure if they are pregnant, an infant, have a weakened immune system and/or are unimmunized;
- Monitor themselves for illness with fever and/or an unexplained rash from 7 days to 21 days after their exposure (the time period when symptoms may develop); if symptoms develop, stay at home and call a healthcare provider immediately.
This is the twelfth measles case among Los Angeles County residents this year. In April, UCLA quarantined 46 people who could have been exposed to measles and either had not been vaccinated or couldn't verify that they had immunity.
Measles is considered among the most contagious viruses in the world. About 90% of people who have never been immunized against measles become ill 7-21 days after exposure. Infected people can infect those around them before they have symptoms and know they are infected. Common symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis (red eyes) and a rash.
