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At least one person with measles was at Centennial Middle School in Southeast Portland for several days this month up through April 10, according to an alert Tuesday from state health officials. They urged those who were present at the school during the period in question to contact their health providers to determine if they are immune and how to proceed.
Officials say people might have been exposed to measles if they were at the school at any time between 9:20 am and 6 pm on April 1, or April 6-10.
The announcement comes after several other “measles exposure” alerts in the greater Portland area since the first case of the year here was announced in March.
Once considered eradicated in the U.S., measles is highly contagious and can be quite dangerous—though health officials say vaccinations reduce the risk dramatically.
In light of the uptick in reported cases, Portland Public Schools brought up the matter Friday in a letter to families. The letter said that when a measles case occurs at a school, vaccination records of those who were exposed “will be reviewed,” and that “students and staff who are unvaccinated or are unable to provide documentation of immunity to measles may be excluded from school/work for at least 21 days.”
It remains unclear exactly how widespread measles is around Portland. For the two-week period ending April 4, Oregon Health Authority data did not detect measles in Multnomah County’s wastewater. Still, an Oregon Health Authority spokesperson has told WW that, even though wastewater can offer useful insight into measles transmission, “the absence of measles in wastewater should not be interpreted as evidence that measles is not in a community. It may simply be present at an undetectable level.”
