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Someone got measles in Multnomah County, health officials said Thursday, the first case of the airborne virus announced here this year.
The confirmed case is linked to a previously announced “exposure” at the WinCo grocery store on Southeast 1st Street in Gresham between 2 and 5 pm on March 7.
The Oregon Health Authority had urged people there during that time to immediately contact their health care provider “and let them know they may have been exposed to someone who has measles.”
Now, officials say, someone who was partially vaccinated seems to have contracted the airborne virus on that occasion. Officials say the person and their family are cooperating with public health officials.
Once considered eliminated in the U.S., measles has surged in in recent years, as fewer people vaccinate their kids.
The virus is very contagious, and can be dangerous to certain populations, like young children. Still, it can be prevented by routine childhood vaccination, Multnomah County health officer Dr. Richard Bruno says in a written statement. Because measles is so contagious, he says, high levels of immunity in the community are needed to prevent its spread.
Measles vaccination rates vary across Oregon counties from 91% to 98%, according to state data, with disparities along geographic and racial lines. About 95% of people in Multnomah County have had at least one dose of the vaccine—a figure widely thought to establish herd immunity.
This is one reason officials say public health risk is low. If you have been exposed to measles in the past 21 days or have a measleslike rash, officials discourage going unannounced to a medical office. As for that March 7 WinCo exposure, officials note that quite a bit of time has passed and the last day of recommended monitoring for people who were there will be March 28.
