Measles in Oakland County: First case confirmed, exposure point in Rochester

FOX 2 - The first case of measles in Michigan has been confirmed in Metro Detroit.

The backstory:

Oakland County Health Officer Kate Guzman said the case is an infected adult that has recently returned from international travel. She said they are unsure of their vaccination status.

Guzman said the window of the case being contagious is from March 3 to March 11. The infected person returned home from travel on February 27th. On March 3rd, their symptoms began and on March 7th the rash began. On March 8th they sought care at Henry Ford Rochester ER.

"This is an important point ... we look at the contagious period, the infectious period of a measles case by the date of the onset of their rash," she said. "The rash started on (March 7), because someone with measles is contagious four days before the rash starts until four days after that rash starts.

"Remember that measles is one of our most contagious diseases with virus spread through infectious droplets," Guzman said. "And it's airborne as well through coughing, sneezing, singing, talking."

Guzman said the classic symptoms are a runny nose and pink eye. She cautioned anyone who may have been exposed to not go to the emergency room without calling first. 

"We need you to notify your healthcare provider so they can put the proper isolation precautions in place so they can protect the public and all of the other patients that would be in that facility," she said. "Because, again, measles is highly infectious."

She said the measles virus can live in the air for up to two hours after the case has left the area.

Timeline:

The list of locations where this person was during their period of infectiousness between March 3 and March 11:  

• March 7 the infected case went to the restaurant Kruse and Muer on Main in Rochester between 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
• March 8 the infected case went to Henry Ford Rochester.
• March 10 they returned to the same bed where they were admitted overnight.

"And honestly, we got very lucky because the only other exposures are those two visits to the emergency room," Guzman said. "It's a very unusual in a measles case."

Guzman warned against parents seeking to get natural immunity against measles instead of getting vaccinated against it.

She said in comes cases in Texas that measles parties are being held in some cases where parents are intentionally exposing their invaccinated children to it.

"I cannot discourage this practice enough," she said. "Measles parties are dangerous and they threaten the lives of our young children."

Oakland County Health Officer Kate Guzman

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases, and 90% of persons without immunity to measles will become ill after exposure to the virus. Measles can live for up to 2 hours in an airspace after an infected person leaves an area, according to Michigan Health and Human Services.

Related: 

• Measles outbreak spurs vaccine debate amid alternative treatment claims
• Unvaccinated adult dies after measles infection in New Mexico, health officials say

As of March 14, there were 301 confirmed cases of measles in the United States.