(The Center Square) – Colorado’s third case of measles has been confirmed.
The case was found in an adult living in Archuleta County, the state Department of Public Health and Environment reported. The department said the patient’s vaccination history isn’t known.
The patient came March 31 to a clinic and was contagious from March 26 to April 3, the health department said.
Previous measles cases were reported March 31 and Monday in Pueblo and Denver counties respectively.
“This case does not appear to be linked to the other cases reported in Colorado, and the individual did not travel outside of Colorado, which leaves open the possibility of community transmission,” said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist and deputy chief medical officer at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “We urge Coloradans to monitor for symptoms if they may have been exposed and to make sure they are up to date on their MMR [measles, mumps and rubella] vaccinations.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reported 607 confirmed measles cases nationally. With the latest two confirmed Colorado cases reported this week, that brings the current total to 609.
Besides Colorado, the CDC said cases have been reported in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York state, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington state.
People exposed to measles usually develop symptoms seven to 21 days after exposure, the Colorado Public Health Department said. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a rash that usually starts several days later on the face and spreads.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told CBS News he encourages people to get vaccinated against the measles after the three deaths this year in the U.S., the first fatalities from the disease in the nation in a decade. Kennedy is known as a vaccine skeptic, but he told CBS News his views have been mischaracterized.
Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are about 97% effective in preventing measles, the health department said.
The first dose is routinely given at the age of 12 months, the department said. It noted adults should have one or two doses unless they have other presumptive evidence of immunity to measles. Adults born before 1957 are considered to be immune.
A small number of adults who received the inactivated measles vaccine during childhood during 1963-67 are considered unvaccinated and should get at least one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, the Colorado Public Health Department said.
Measles was eliminated in 2000 in the U.S. after an effective vaccination program, according to the CDC.
For more information, go to cdc.gov/measles/hcp/vaccine-considerations/index.html.
