ALBANY – The State Health
Department issued a warning to residents of Orange and Putnam counties
who were at certain locations at specific times that they may have been
exposed to the measles virus.
A tourist from Australia who visited the Watchtower Educational Center
in Putnam County, an Orange County hotel, an urgent care center in Orange
County and Orange Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department
in the Town of Wallkill between February 16 and 21, potentially exposing
others to the virus.
The tourist, along with a bible study group, also visited hotels in Manhattan
and Brooklyn.
The health department said the risk of developing measles is very low, especially for people who have been immunized.
Anyone in the Mid-Hudson who visited the following locations may have been exposed, the state agency said late Friday:
Watchtower Education Center, 100 Watchtower Drive, Patterson, between 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on February 19;
Comfort Inn and Suites Goshen-Middletown, 20 Hatfield Lane, Goshen, from 4:30 p.m. on February 20 until 10:30 a.m. on February 21;
Excel Urgent Care, 1 Hatfield Lane, Goshen, between 8 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on February 21; and
Orange Regional Medical Center, Emergency Department, 707 E. Main Street, Town of Wallkill, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on February 21.
The health department said those times reflect the period that the infected person was in those areas and a two-hour period after the individual left the area, as the virus remains alive in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours.
Persons lacking immunity or who are not sure if they have been vaccinated should contact their doctor if they develop measles symptoms, including a fever, rash, cough, conjunctivitis or runny nose.
Symptoms usually appear in 10 to 12 days after exposure. Individuals who may have been exposed and who lack immunity could begin experiencing symptoms at this time.
The health department said measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus that is spread by direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of infected people. Individuals first develop a fever, then may have a cough, runny nose and watery eyes, followed by appearance of a rash.
