Public health officials have announced that a Grant County resident who visited two Issaquah locations has contracted measles.
Grant County is already looking into an international youth conference in Kirkland at the end of March as the possible source of eight cases of measles in Grant County.
Health officials learned last Saturday that a young Grant County girl who visited King County as part of a school trip on April 29 tested positive for measles. The disease has a typical incubation period of 7 to 21 days, said James Apa, a spokesman with Public Health — Seattle & King County. Anyone becoming ill with measles as a result of an exposure on April 29 would be expected to develop symptoms between May 5 and May 19. Those showing symptoms of the disease should contact a health care provider immediately, Apa said.
Last month, three members of a Grant County family who attended the Generation Church Conference March 27-29 at the City Church of Kirkland (9051 132nd Ave. N.E.) contracted the disease. Five other members of the family now have confirmed cases.
Public health officials are unsure where the three came in contact with the illness, but have focused on the conference as a source because of its size and international draw — about 2,000 people from around the country and world attended — and because of the timing of the first symptoms. Measles, also known as rubeola, is a highly contagious virus that causes fever, rash and other complications. The first signs of the illness showed up in one of the family’s conference-goers on April 12. Measles is contagious from about four days before the rash appears through four days after the rash appears. People can spread measles before they have the characteristic measles rash, which begins on the face and spreads to the rest of the body.
No other cases in King County or in connection with the conference have been reported, Apa said last Friday. Measles is on a national list of communicable diseases that must be reported to health officials when identified. Apa called it “much more” contagious than the flu.
King County had only one reported measles case in 2007 and none in 2006. Federal health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, warned last week that the United States could soon face a major outbreak. Between Jan. 1 and April 25, the CDC recorded 64 cases of measles in the U.S., the highest number in recent years, officials said.
Most people born before 1957 had the disease in childhood, and now many children are routinely vaccinated against it. People are immune to measles if they had the disease or were properly vaccinated, officials say. Anyone who is unsure whether they are immune is asked to contact their doctor — particularly for people younger than 1, pregnant women or those with weakened immune systems.
People who were at the following King County sites on April 29 may have been exposed to measles:
· 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, 6210 East Lake Sammamish Pkwy. S.E., Issaquah.
· Noon to 4:45 p.m.: Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum, 325 5th Ave. N., Seattle.
· 3:45 to 6:30 p.m.: McDonald’s Restaurant, 1305 N.W. Gilman Blvd., Issaquah.
For more information on the symptoms and treatment of measles, visit www.doh.wa.gov/EHSPHL/factsheet/measles.htm.
For immunizations, contact your provider or visit a Public Health – Seattle & King County immunization clinic: www.metrokc.gov/health/immunization/clinics.htm.
