Measles outbreak strikes Arizona detention facility

A detention center in Arizona is handling a recent outbreak of measles by vaccinating all inmates and staff and keeping patients with confirmed cases in self-isolation in their cells, a health department spokesman said.

Joe Pyritz, spokesman for Pinal County Public Health Services, said the number of confirmed cases of measles at the Eloy immigration detention center includes seven inmates and four staff members.

“Although that number could change on a daily basis,” Pyritz told Infectious Disease News.

The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) said the potential exposure area is being expanded to include parts of Pinal and Maricopa counties because some of the existing measles patients may have exposed other people.

The department has identified public areas with possible exposure, including restaurants, drugstores, supermarkets, department stores, a church and a high school graduation.

“This is an evolving situation, and given how contagious measles is, public health will continue to update our communities on places of potential exposure,” Cara Christ, MD, MS, director of ADHS, said in a statement.

To help stop the spread, Christ said anyone with a rash and fever must alert their health care provider or hospital ED before going there as a precaution for their possible measles. – by Gerard Gallagher

Reference:

Arizona Department of Health Services. Additional measles case confirmed and potential exposure areas expanded. 2016. http://azdhs.gov/director/public-information-office/index.php#news-release-053016. Accessed June 1, 2016.

Disclosures: Pyritz is a spokesman for Pinal County Public Health Services. Christ is director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.