21-05-2025
Major outbreak fears as world's most infectious disease hits Shakira concert at Metlife stadium
Shakira fans who partied at her concert are being warned that they could be infected with measles.
Fans who attended her 'Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran' show at the MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, on Thursday night and early Friday morning may be infected, officials say.
The warning, released by the New Jersey Department of Health, said potentially exposed individuals 'could develop symptoms as late as June 6'.
They said an individual had attended the concert while infected with measles. It was not clear whether they were vaccinated.
In a statement, the department said: '[We] are alerting residents about potential exposures associated with a newly identified case of measles in a non-New Jersey resident who attended a concert in New Jersey while infectious.
'Individuals — especially parents, guardians, health care providers, and caregivers — are urged to be aware of the symptoms of this highly contagious virus.'
There was no alert also issued for people on public transit, although at the time of the concert, the New Jersey Transit was on strike.
There were buses, however, organized by Coach USA that brought some passengers from the Port Authority to New Jersey for the shows. This didn't trigger a warning.
Further details of the case were not revealed, including where they sat in the stadium — that can seat 82,000 — or where they had traveled from.
Officials said that, at present, no associated cases had been detected.
Measles is a highly infectious disease that patients can pass to nine out of ten people exposed who are not vaccinated.
It passes via droplets expelled via coughs and sneezes, which can hang in the air for up to two hours after a patient passes.
Illness begins with flu-like symptoms, before a patient develops a characteristic rash which starts at the hairline and then spreads across the whole body.
The disease is particularly dangerous for young children, with the CDC saying one in 20 unvaccinated children who are infected develop pneumonia while one in 1,000 suffer from encephalitis — or brain swelling that can cause permanent damage.
One to three in every 1,000 unvaccinated children who are infected also die from the disease.
