Santa Barbara County Health officials have released an update on efforts to contain a potential measles outbreak in the county, and say so far their efforts appear to be successful.
On December 29th, a case of measles was confirmed at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital. The person was linked to an outbreak in the Los Angeles area involving about a dozen people.
Because of the potential to rapidly spread the disease, the Health Department activated its Operations Center, with more than 20 employees working to identify people who may have come in contact with the infected person. Doing it rapidly was critical, because vulnerable people who are exposed must be vaccinated with 72 hours to prevent the disease from developing.
Health officials now say they identified 45 people who came in contact with the measles, with 10 vaccinations administered and one person placed in quarantine.
The incubation period for the disease is 21 days, so all 45 people will be monitored until January 17th to make sure they don’t develop the disease. Measles is preventable with vaccinations, but people who are unprotected can become seriously ill or die from it.
