Los Angeles County health officials issued a measles exposure advisory for people who visited Disneyland on Oct. 16 in an effort to avoid a repeat of the 2014 outbreak tied to the Anaheim theme park that infected more than 100 people.
Health officials said a person infected with measles visited Disneyland between 9:15 a.m. and 8:35 p.m. on Oct. 16 and warned that exposed theme park visitors could develop the viral infection for up to 21 days after exposure.
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The LA County resident with the confirmed case of measles also visited a Palms-area Starbucks coffee shop at 3006 S. Sepulveda Blvd. in Los Angeles between 7:50 and 10 a.m. on Oct. 16.
Anyone potentially exposed to measles at Disneyland or Starbucks should contact a health care provider if they have not been immunized.
Disneyland attracts 18.7 million visitors a year and approximately 50,000 people per day, making the theme park one of the largest tourist attractions in the state. Measles exposure has been an issue for Disneyland in the past.
In August, an infected teenage girl from New Zealand traveling in Southern California potentially exposed Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood visitors to measles.
A December 2014 measles outbreak linked to Disneyland infected 131 people in California, public health officials said. A California vaccine law passed in response to the Disneyland measles outbreak closed a loophole that allowed families to opt out of state immunization laws that conflicted with their personal beliefs.
The latest measles case brings the number of infections this year in L.A. County to 30 — 19 among county residents and 11 among non-residents traveling through the county.
County health officials urge residents to get the measles immunization to protect themselves and prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus. The disease spreads by direct contact and through the air by coughing or sneezing.