Erie County DOH declares measles outbreak amid fifth reported case
The Erie County Department of Health has officially declared an outbreak of measles in the region, after confirming the fourth and fifth cases of the virus since March.
These cases were directly connected to exposures from a local positive case of measles back on March 30, not due to international travel.
ECDH confirms case of measles in Erie Co. child
A slow, spread of measles to unvaccinated people in Erie County continues to be documented with now five cases made public. The three most recent cases stem from local spread.
'When we just had the one case at the childcare facility, that did not count as an outbreak. Now that we have two cases linked to the exposure to that individual, that's what the cdc would define as an outbreak,' said Erin Mrenak, director of public health for Erie County.
More than 200 people who were at creative learning childcare and Fitness U on March 30 were reached out to for contact tracing.
It's from this group that these most recent case came from.
Measles outbreak confirmed in Ashtabula County
'We ended up putting a list together of all of those individuals and then our team, which consists of contact tracers, nurses, supervisors, public health preparedness coordinators, worked really hard to reach out to all of those individuals to talk about their vaccination status. Those who are vaccinated do not have any quarantine despite exposure because the risk of getting measles if you're vaccinated is very small, only 3%,' Mrenak said.
This time around, people who were at UPMC Hamot's emergency department on Saturday, April 5 between 5:30 and 9:00 p.m. Should monitor for symptoms of measles until April 26. Mainly those who are unvaccinated.
At this time, the Erie County Department still doesn't consider there to be a high risk of community spread or exposure with these cases but any symptoms can take weeks to develop.
'What we're finding is that there's a lot of people that didn't realize that they didn't have access to their vaccine records. Before electronic medical records were as prevalent, you either had your parent might have had your paper vaccine record or your PCP office, but a lot of those offices have closed for a lot of people that are in their late 30s, 40s, 50s, and so people are insistent that they're vaccinated but don't have a way to show that they are,' Mrenak explained.
Erie CRIZ nearing it start in downtown
The health department will be hosting an MMR vaccine clinic next Tuesday, April 22 at the Zem Zem Shrine Club from 11 until 6:30 p.m.
They can vaccinate anyone older than 18 who is looking to get their vaccine, or for people who are unsure of their vaccination status.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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