Tri-state Area Measles Warning Issued by New York

A tri-state area measles warning has been issued by New York health officials worried that people may have come in contact recently with two European tourists who had the disease.

The warning for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut was issued on Sunday after authorities said the tourists visited a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness in Brooklyn last week before traveling to the Watchtower Jehovah's Witness facilities in in Tuxedo Park and Patterson, New York, WCBS-TV reported.

The tourists visited the Kingdom Hall from 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 15, the Watchtower World Headquarters in Tuxedo Park from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on April 16, and the Watchtower Education Center in Patterson from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 17, WNBC-TV reported.

Officials urged anyone who was exposed to the tourists and is suffering symptoms to contact a health care provider before seeking treatment in order to minimize exposure.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that symptoms of measles generally appear seven to 14 days after a person is infected, starting with high fever, coughing, a runny nose, and red, watery eyes. Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth, the CDC stated.

Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash breaks out and is often spread from the head to the rest of the body where a person's fever may spike to more than 104 degrees before subsides days later, the CDC noted.

This is the second time in three months that tourists have caused a measles scare in New York. In late February, an Australia tourist was confirmed with to have had measles and visited hotels in Manhattan and Brooklyn while part an Oasis Bible Tour group at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, the state health department said.

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