West Coast measles alerts
Health officials on the West Coast announced new measles cases and exposure sites this week, including San Francisco’s first confirmed case since 2019 in an unvaccinated infant exposed during international travel. (Local authorities also identified exposure locations tied to a Portland school and an Oregon City urgent care, while Sacramento County reported 11 confirmed cases and 39 statewide.) ( )
San Francisco reported its first measles case since 2019 this week: an unvaccinated infant infected during international travel. (abc7news.com) The San Francisco Department of Public Health said the infant was not old enough for routine measles vaccination and may have exposed others at San Francisco International Airport’s international terminal on April 10 and at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital’s emergency department on April 11. (abc7news.com) Oregon officials also posted new exposure alerts. Multnomah County linked a measles case to a Portland school, and Clackamas County identified the Providence Willamette Falls Medical Plaza urgent care clinic in Oregon City as an exposure site on April 11. (opb.org, kptv.com) In Northern California, Sacramento County Public Health said it had confirmed 11 measles cases, while state officials reported 39 cases statewide in 2026. Placer County has also reported cases tied to the same regional outbreak. (kcra.com, yahoo.com) Measles spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes, and the virus can linger in a room for up to two hours after that person leaves. The first symptoms usually include fever, cough, runny nose, and red eyes before the rash appears. (cdc.gov) The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is highly effective: one dose is about 93 percent effective against measles, and two doses are about 97 percent effective. The first routine dose is usually given at 12 to 15 months, which leaves younger infants more dependent on community immunity and travel precautions. (cdc.gov) Health departments in San Francisco and Oregon told people at the listed sites to watch for symptoms for 21 days after exposure, check their vaccination records, and call ahead before visiting a clinic if they think they may be infected. That guidance is meant to keep waiting rooms from becoming new exposure sites. (abc7news.com, kptv.com) The West Coast alerts follow a broader national rise in measles cases this year, with outbreaks often starting with an infected traveler and then spreading among people who are unvaccinated or undervaccinated. Local officials are now tracing exposure windows site by site to contain those chains before they widen. (cdc.gov, opb.org)
