A case of measles in an individual who had been traveling internationally was announced on August 5 by Ventura County, the county just south of Santa Barbara. Identifying information is not available due to medical privacy rules, but Ventura’s public health contact tracers put together a list of places the individual was known to be before being positively diagnosed:
• July 26: Subway, 1941 N. Rose Ave., Suite 600, Oxnard (approx. 8 –10 a.m.)
• July 27-August 1: Hacienda Furniture and Mattress, 3200 S. Saviers Rd., Oxnard
• July 31: Cinemark Century Riverpark, 2766 Seaglass Way, Oxnard (approx. 7:30 p.m.–midnight)
• August 1: Walgreens, 1801 N. Rose Ave., Oxnard (approx. 9:30–11 a.m.)
• August 2: Kaiser Permanente, 4949 Market St., Ventura (approx. 9–11 a.m.)
With measles, it can take a week or two before symptoms appear, which at first are usually a high fever, cough, runny nose, and watery eyes. A rash starts about 3-5 days after those symptoms appear, generally at the hairline and descending from there.
Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through airborne particles brought up by coughing and sneezing. The virus can remain in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a room.
Ventura County has strong vaccination rates, said the county’s public health officer, Dr. Uldine Castel, and hasn’t had a measles case since 2017. Similarly, Santa Barbara County has a greater than 95 percent measles vaccination rate and has not had a measles case since 2019. People who have been vaccinated or were born before 1957 are generally considered at a low risk. The risk increases for those who’ve never had measles, have not been vaccinated, or are immunocompromised.
Anyone at the locations listed and at those times should watch for symptoms, Ventura County advised. If measles is suspected, call before going to a healthcare provider to notify them of the potential for infection.
