LOS ANGELES—A measles outbreak linked to the Disneyland Resort continues to raise concerns in California, where state officials confirmed 59 cases Wednesday and cautioned people who weren’t vaccinated against the disease to avoid Disneyland theme parks in the area.
“This is not a trivial illness,” said Gil Chavez of the California Department of Public Health, which urged the state’s nonvaccinated residents to get vaccinations to prevent the disease from spreading further.
Measles is a highly contagious disease that starts with fever, cough and runny nose and progresses into a red rash.
Forty-two cases in the outbreak that began last month have been associated with an initial exposure in December at Walt Disney Co. ’s Disneyland or Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, Calif.
“As soon as the [Orange County] Health Care Agency notified us on Jan. 7, we immediately began to communicate to our [workers] to raise awareness,” said Pamela Hymel, chief medical officer with Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. “We also offered vaccinations and immunity tests.
Five of Disneyland’s 27,000 or so employees have been diagnosed with the measles, park officials said; three of those have already been cleared to return to work. Employees who may have been in close contact with the sick workers but prefer to opt out of vaccination or immunity testing are also being put on paid leave until the incubation period is over, according to a Disney official.
Outside of California, there have been eight additional measles cases in Utah, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and the country of Mexico, according to California officials. California officials say it is difficult to trace the outbreak to one person, but believe it most likely began with either an international traveler visiting the theme park or a resident visiting the park who had recently traveled abroad.
While measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, there have been rising numbers of U.S. cases. “In two and a half weeks, we’ve had the same number of cases [in California] that we have had in all of last year,” said Mr. Chavez.
