California Faces Rise In Measles Cases

San Diego - Health Officials are worried that a disease once thought to be eradicated in the United States, may be making a comeback. There are now 21 reported cases of measles in Orange County. San Diego has four cases, Los Angeles has 10.

Eric McDonald, Public Health Officer for the County Health Department says on a typical year San Diego would have no cases.

McDonald says the disease is being brought into the United States from travelers returning from places like the Philippines, Africa, Asia, India and Europe where the disease is still widespread. But he says what's putting people in the United States at risk is those who aren't vaccinated.

He says the disease is extremely contagious.

"On the scale of contagious diseases, this is one of the most contagious, in fact, it's so contagious that if you were in the room an hour after somebody with contagious measles had been in the room, you could be potentially exposed," he said.

He says specialists in infectious diseases measure disease spread by something called Ro. He says the Ro of the flu is one to two, meaning an infected person is likely to sicken one to two others during the course of the illness. With the measles it's 17 to 20, meaning for every person infected, 17 to 20 others could become ill.

The disease starts with a fever, runny nose and dry cough and about three days later a red rash starts developing usually at the head and travels down the body. 

McDonald says the best way to avoid the disease is to make sure you are vaccinated.

Report from sandiego6.com