Third measles case confirmed in Sacramento County as total hits 695 nationwide

A third measles case was confirmed in Sacramento County on Wednesday, involving another member of the family that had two children diagnosed with the deadly virus one day earlier.

“There continues to be minimal exposure to the public and all potentially exposed individuals have been notified,” the Sacramento County Public Health department said Wednesday.

The news comes the same day the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 695 measles cases have been reported across 22 states this year so far.

It is the largest number of cases reported in the country since the vaccine-preventable virus was eliminated in 2000, the CDC said.

Sacramento County spokeswoman Brenda Bongiorno said the vaccination status of the adult diagnosed Wednesday could not be confirmed. The two children diagnosed Tuesday were unvaccinated. All three family members are at home recovering.

The family had recently traveled internationally, which officials believe may have led them to be exposed to measles.

Bongiorno did not have information about whether the county will declare a measles outbreak. The CDC defines an outbreak as three or more cases in a jurisdiction.

New York City declared a public health emergency related to a measles outbreak earlier this month, and Los Angeles County declared an outbreak on Tuesday, as five cases of measles are being investigated by county health officials. Butte County, with a total of 10 cases, also has a measles outbreak.

“All (county) public health officers are working in tandem with the California Department of Public Health” as they investigate the measles cases, Bongiorno said.

This story was originally published April 24, 2019 at 5:19 PM.