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A new measles case was detected this week in an unvaccinated child in Bonner County, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced Wednesday.
There is no known link between the Bonner County case and a case in Kootenai County announced last week.
“Without any link between these two confirmed cases in north Idaho or travel outside of their communities, it’s reasonable to suspect that there is more measles circulating,” said Dr. Christine Hahn, state epidemiologist. “As we’ve seen with other states around the nation, cases can begin to multiply quickly.”
Measles is highly contagious. The virus spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes and can stay airborne for two hours. Symptoms typically appear seven to 14 days after exposure and include a high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a distinctive rash.
“Among measles cases, typically 13% will need hospitalization, and among young children that percent jumps to 21%,” Hahn said.
Nationwide, there have been 1,356 confirmed cases of measles this year, and 92% of people who contracted the disease were not vaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. The disease was officially eliminated from the United States in 2000, meaning the disease was not spreading within the country, according to the CDC.
It was eliminated due to high vaccination rates nationwide after the vaccine was licensed in 1963. When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated, most people are protected through herd immunity.
There have been three measles deaths this year.
The second Idaho case comes during the back-to-school season and as Idaho’s confirmed vaccination rates for measles are at a five-year low.
