The Marion County Health Department confirmed two additional cases of measles on Friday, bringing the county total to six since June.
It’s the most cases the county has seen in over a decade, according to Oregon Health Authority data which recorded four cases in 2014 and two in 2019. There was only one measles case in the state last year.
The disease typically causes fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash that starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. Complications can be severe and include pneumonia and, in rare cases, brain swelling.
Both new cases, an unvaccinated child and an unvaccinated adult, were diagnosed on Friday. The other four cases, one on Wednesday and two in June, were unvaccinated children, county spokeswoman Melissa Gable said. The six people so far diagnosed range in age from 4 to 43.
County officials are working to contact potential exposures. As of Friday, there are no known public exposures in Marion County and no known connections with the previous four cases. All the cases in the county have been in separate households.
Most people are vaccinated against measles starting in childhood and are considered immune to the disease. But unvaccinated people who haven’t had measles and were born after 1957 are at high risk of infection if exposed to the virus.
Nonmedical vaccine exemptions have been climbing in Oregon, worrying health officials. Nearly 9% of kindergarten students across the state were missing at least one required vaccine this year, the second highest rate in the nation, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
The World Health Organization declared measles eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, but it has reemerged with travel abroad and more parents choosing not to vaccinate their children.
Whooping cough, another airborne disease, is also spreading throughout the state, according to reporting by the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
State health officials told the Capital Chronicle that they expect to see more cases given the contagiousness of the disease.
Those who think they’ve been exposed to measles should call their doctor or urgent care before going in to make a plan to limit spread. Measles poses the highest risk to unvaccinated pregnant people, infants younger than 1 year old, and people with weakened immune systems.
For more information, see the Oregon Health Authority’s website.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.
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Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
