MENDOCINO Co., 6/4/19 — A tourist visiting Fort Bragg over the Memorial Day weekend has been confirmed to have measles, and as a result, many people at popular locations were potentially exposed to the disease from Friday May 24 to Sunday May 26. The exposure took place over a week ago, though Mendocino County Public Health is just now making the announcement, and rumors of the possible exposure have been circulating on social media and warnings were given by local pediatricians for days prior to the health department confirming the case of exposure.
Measles is contagious, but most people have been vaccinated against the disease. However, it remains a danger to unvaccinated children, infants too young to have received the vaccine, and people with weakened immune systems. And though the infected tourist passed through town over a week ago, people should remain vigilant for symptoms given that they often do not develop for a week to three weeks.
The infected visitor, who was from Butte County, and may have been exposed to measles before arriving in Mendocino County, stopped by the following locations at the these times:
– Beachcomber Motel,1111 N. Main St. Fort Bragg CA 95437, all day Friday May 24th through Sunday May 26th at 11 a.m.
– Django’s Rough Bar, 32096 N Harbor Dr. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Friday May 24th from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m.
– Sea Pal Cove Restaurant, 32390 N. Harbor Dr. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Saturday May 25th from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m.
– Skunk Train, 100 W. Laurel St. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Saturday May 25th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
– North Coast Brewing Co. 444 N. Main St. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Saturday May 25th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
– David’s Deli, 163 Boatyard Dr. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Sunday May 26th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Mendocino County Public Health
Measles can particularly affect children under five, those who have not received the MMR vaccine, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.
There is a risk of exposure for people who visited these locations while infected person was present, or up to an hour afterwards, though there is little risk following that time window. If you develop the symptoms listed below, please contact a doctor immediately — but call ahead before visiting a clinic, so health professionals can take care to protect other patients presents from potential exposure. There have been a number of recent measles outbreaks across the country, as well as internationally, and local officials have urged parents to consider vaccinations for their school aged children to minimize risk of exposure.
The person who was carrying measles is a Butte County resident who was previously exposed to measles, but it has not been definitely confirmed that they had been vaccinated. The visitor was subsequently hospitalized due to their illness. No additional information is available due to privacy requirements around medical records.
The following is the full press release from Mendocino County Public Health:
Public Health Warns of Possible Measles Exposure in Mendocino County
One individual visited restaurants and tourist sites in the County of Mendocino while possibly contagious with measles.
COUNTY OF MENDOCINO, CA – Mendocino County HHSA, Public Health confirms one case of measles in a traveler visiting the county. Individuals who are not immune to measles AND who visited the sites below at the dates and times indicated may be at risk of developing measles due to exposure.
Most people have received two doses of the measles vaccine (“MMR vaccine”) as children, and are protected. However, parents of unvaccinated children, unvaccinated adults, and those with weakened immune systems are advised to review the list of sites and times individuals may have been exposed below:
Dates, Times, and Places where individuals may have been exposed:
- Beachcomber Motel,1111 N. Main St. Fort Bragg CA 95437, all day Friday May 24th through Sunday May 26th at 11 a.m.
- Django’s Rough Bar, 32096 N Harbor Dr. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Friday May 24th from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Sea Pal Cove Restaurant, 32390 N. Harbor Dr. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Saturday May 25th from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Skunk Train, 100 W. Laurel St. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Saturday May 25th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
- North Coast Brewing Co. 444 N. Main St. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Saturday May 25th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- David’s Deli, 163 Boatyard Dr. Fort Bragg CA 95437, on Sunday May 26th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
People at high risk for severe illness and complications from measles include: Infants and children aged less than 5 years, adults aged greater than 20 years, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems such as leukemia and HIV infection.
People presented at these sites who are not immune to measles may be at risk of developing measles and should watch for symptoms of the illness. Common symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a rash, which can appear 7 to 21 days after the exposure. There is no risk to anyone going to those businesses except for up to one hour after the contagious person was in the business.
If you develop these symptoms, call your doctor right away. It is very important to call ahead to any medical facility before going there and to tell them that you may have been exposed to measles so that the facility can take measures to protect other patients and visitors.
Fort Bragg Clinic contacts are:
- Mendocino Coast Clinics at 707-964-1251
- North Coast Family Health Center at 707-961-4631
- Fort Bragg Rural Health Center at 707-964-0259
HHSA, Public Health requests the assistance of the news media in publicizing this list of sites at which we have been unable to identify all of the people present who may have been exposed.
The person with measles is an adult who was exposed to measles in Butte County. The person’s measles vaccination status is unverified. The individual was hospitalized because of their illness. Further information about the individual will not be released for reasons of medical privacy.
For questions, please contact Mendocino County HHSA, Public Health at:
(707) 472-2717
You may want to correct that to *unvaccinated children.
Thanks guys
I got the measles at 40 and I almost died.
Funny how my parent’s generation weren’t afraid of measles. Everyone got it as a kid- they stayed home from school for a week and that was it. They didn’t know anyone who died from it. It was just part of grkwing up to get it. Similar to chickenpox in my generation. I wasn’t afraid to get it. It was an annoying rash that left me some scars from scratching.
Funny how ignorance is bliss. Before the introduction of the first measles vaccine in 1963, three to four million people caught the virus each year in the U.S. Of these, 48,000 people were hospitalized; 7,000 had seizures; 2,000 suffered permanent deafness or brain damage; and 500 died. One in 20 caught pneumonia and one in 10 got an ear infection. The incidence of complications due to the measles remains high today, too. In the current outbreak, about 25% of patients have been hospitalized.
How does one spend 12 AM until 2 PM in bars and restaurants? Fourteen hours seems a bit excessive.
so out of 4 million people 500 died that is 0.0125 percent of people… not one percent o.o125… In 2012, the Cochrane Collaborative examined 57 studies and clinical trials involving approximately 14.7 million children who had received the MMR vaccine. 15 While the study authors stated that they were not able to detect a “significant” association between MMR vaccine and autism, asthma, leukemia, hay fever, type I diabetes, gait disturbance, Crohn’s disease, demyelinating diseases or bacterial or viral infections, they reported that:
“The design and reporting of safety outcomes in MMR vaccine studies, both pre- and post-marketing, are largely inadequate.”16
As of November 30, 2018, there have been more than 93,179 reports of measles vaccine reactions, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following measles vaccinations made to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), including 459 related deaths, 6,936 hospitalizations, and 1,748 related disabilities. Over 50% of those adverse events occurred in children three years old and under. However, the numbers of vaccine-related injuries and deaths reported to VAERS may not reflect the true number of serious health problems that occur develop after MMR vaccination.
thank you for being informed!