Ninth measles case, potential Marion County exposure sites announced

People who visited three grocery stores in Keizer and Woodburn on July 17 may have been exposed to measles, the Oregon Health Authority said Friday. 

The agency released a statement which also confirmed a ninth measles case in Marion County.

The stores and times of potential exposure are:

Waremart (5450 River Road N., Keizer), between noon and 1:20 p.m., July 17.

Walmart (3002 Stacy Allison Wy., Woodburn), between 1:15 and 2:35 p.m., July 17.  

Safeway (1550 N. Pacific Hwy, Woodburn), between 2:40 and 3:05 p.m., July 17.

People who have been in the stores recently should monitor themselves for symptoms of measles and report to a health care provider if they began experiencing symptoms, the agency said. 

The list of locations includes all public sites of potential exposure for the cases of measles the county has identified, Katrina Griffith, deputy director of Marion County’s Health and Human Services Department, said in an email.

“Measles is the most contagious disease we know,” Dr. Paul Cieslak, OHA’s medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations, said in a statement. “If you have a rash, please don’t drop in on an emergency department or your doctor’s office. Call ahead so that the doctor can arrange to meet you where others won’t be exposed.”

Since mid-June, 15 measles cases have been identified in Oregon, including nine cases in Marion County. All of the cases statewide have been unvaccinated people, the health authority said

Friday’s announcement did not include whether the new Marion County case is a child or adult, and a health authority spokesperson declined to give an age range for the state’s total cases, citing patient confidentiality. Seven of Marion County’s other identified cases have been in children. 

Griffith said the age range for the nine Marion County cases is from 3 to 43. 

OHA announced the county’s ninth case in its statement today to reach a larger audience because people from outside Marion County could have been shopping at the listed locations, Griffith said.

The county health department is posting information about the current measles cases on its website.  

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.

Most people get vaccinated against measles as children, and those with two doses are considered immune. Unvaccinated people who haven’t had measles and were born after 1957 are at high risk of infection if exposed to the virus. 

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.

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 Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE.