Nineteen people who visited either Disneyland or Disney California Adventure in the last month have come down with measles. The visitors were from three different states and visited the theme parks between December 15 and 20, 2014.
The announcement was made by the California Department of Public Health and the Orange County (CA) Health Agency.
Only two of the 19 people have been verified to be fully vaccinated against measles. Others were partially vaccinated and two or more were too young to be vaccinated.
The infected individuals came from three states. Sixteen of the cases were residents of California, two lived in Utah, and one is in Colorado. Eight of the cases in California were in Orange County, where both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are located.
Officials with the Disney theme parks say they are providing any necessary assistance to public health authorities.
In addition to the exposures at the theme parks, more people may have been exposed to measles when the patients were treated at two hospitals in California, said a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Agency. The agency urged anyone with symptoms of measles to call their doctor before seeking medical help so that special precautions can be taken to help reduce the risk of exposing others to the disease.
Measles is an extremely contagious viral infection. It is transmitted though coughing or sneezing.
Symptoms usually appear with 7 to 14 days of exposure. Initial symptoms include a high fever, spots in the mouth, a runny nose, and red eyes. The signature rash that covers most of the body appears two to three days after the onset of illness. Usually the infection lasts 7 to 10 days unless it is complicated by a bacterial infection or another viral infection, such as pneumonia. Before antibiotics, measles pneumonia had a death rate of 30%.