Santa Clara County health officials are working to warn people who may have been exposed to measles.
The highly contagious virus was brought in by a person visiting from out of state, and officials are particularly concerned about three locations the person visited.
The Starbucks on Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos was one of the stores visited by a person with the highly contagious measles between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on July 1, according to county health officials.
The infected person dined at Taqueria Los Pericos on Water Street in Santa Cruz between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm that day.
Doctors said the infected person flew to San Jose International Airport the following morning, where he was there from 5:15 to 7:30 a.m. before boarding a Southwest Airlines flight to Chicago.
NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai spoke with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) about midsummer health warnings, including a new COVID wave and measles scare in Santa Clara County.
Public health leaders are now trying to contact 90 Santa Clara County residents who were on that flight and may have been exposed, and are warning anyone who visited those stores to watch for symptoms.
“One of the issues is that the measles virus can remain in the air for over an hour after an infected person has left the room, so the virus remains there even if no one is infected,” said Dr. Monica Roy with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
She said it was important for people to take action if they think they have been infected.
“The key is to check your vaccination status, especially if you are pregnant, and contact your health care provider right away,” Roy said.
Symptoms of measles include a red, spotted rash, coughing, runny nose, bloodshot eyes, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Anyone with these symptoms should contact their doctor immediately and isolate themselves.
Dr Roy said having the measles vaccine gives you very strong protection against the virus, but it’s not universal.
