As thousands of World Cup soccer fans descend upon Santa Clara County and Levi’s Stadium, the county’s public health officials announced Saturday that a resident infected with measles traveled to San Francisco International Airport and two San Jose markets this week while contagious.
The adult is believed to have been exposed to measles during international travel, Santa Clara County public health officials said. The agency declined to provide any more information about the person due to medical privacy concerns.
The individual traveled through SFO between 8:30 and 11 a.m. Monday. The person moved through the International Terminal, including passport control, customs and the international baggage claim carousels, officials said. That same day, the individual visited Trader Joe’s on Coleman Avenue in San Jose between 8 and 10 p.m. During that same window, the person also visited the International Halal Market on East Santa Clara Street in the city.
“Exposures like this one remind us of the importance of vaccination,” said Dr. Sarah Rudman, Santa Clara County’s health officer and public health director. “Fortunately, the Bay Area region has strong community immunity, because of our very high rates of vaccination or from childhood exposure decades ago.”
Members of the public who visited those sites during the same time window could be at risk of developing measles seven to 10 days after exposure, the health department said. It advises:
“Given the number of large international events currently happening throughout the Bay Area, it is especially important that any unvaccinated, exposed individual quarantines to the best of their ability and avoid contact with others if feeling unwell,” the health department said.
Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara hosted its first World Cup soccer game Saturday, but fans from across the world have descended on the South Bay in the previous days.
In collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Health, the Santa Clara agency is working with SFO and the two markets to identify close contacts who may have been exposed during the infectious period.
Common symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash, which can appear seven to 21 days after exposure. Some people, often young children, unvaccinated children and adults, and those with weakened immune systems can develop more serious complications, the agency said.
The Bay Area has high rates of measles vaccination. Most people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine as children and are therefore at much lower risk of contracting measles, the agency said.
“Two shots of MMR or MMRV vaccine continue to be the best protection against measles and can stop a measles outbreak in its tracks, which is especially important during times of gathering and travel,” Rudman said.