Oakland County health officials say a person who recently returned from international travel likely exposed people to measles at a restaurant and hospital in Rochester in early March.
Measles is an extremely contagious disease for people who haven't been vaccinated or haven't developed immunity from previous measles infections.
The potential exposures occurred:
- March 3rd, between 5:30-9:30 p.m. at Kruse & Muer Restaurant, 327 S. Main St. in Rochester.
- March 8, from 3:40 a.m. to March 9, 9:32 a.m. when the person was in the emergency department at Henry Ford Rochester Hospital, 1101 W. University Drive, Rochester.
- March 10, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Henry Ford Rochester Hospital's emergency department.
People who were at these locations, are unvaccinated, and have developed symptoms should not just show up at the emergency department, health officials say.
The emergency department needs to make prior arrangements to isolate anyone who has the highly contagious illness, so people who have symptoms of measles should call ahead and notify the ED before arriving.
Early symptoms of measles in unvaccinated persons begin with fever, often high fever, and respiratory symptoms such as runny nose, cough, and red, watery eyes.
Shortly after this, tiny, white spots appear inside the mouth.
The final symptom is a red, raised rash.
Measles is generally an uncomfortable, unpleasant illness, but it can sometimes have severe complications and even be fatal.
It's particularly dangerous for children under the age of five. One to three children in 1,000 who contract measles die of the infection.
Measles can cause miscarriages, premature births, and birth defects when pregnant women contract the disease.
The best way to prevent measles is two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR). The vaccine is safe and highly effective. It prevents about 97% of measles cases.
