The Maine Center for Disease Control is reporting a confirmed case of measles at an urgent care center in Waterville.

The CDC says the infected person is an unvaccinated adult from Somerset County, and is the first case in the state since five cases were confirmed in February.

There have been no previous cases of measles reported in Maine since 2019.

There have been recent measles outbreaks in the U.S., with a third death from the virus in Pennsylvania being reported this week.

The Maine CDC said it is working with the Waterville facility to inform people who were potentially exposed to measles during the aforementioned timeframe.

The case was reported at MaineGeneral Express Care at 211 Maine Street in Waterville on September 12th between 8-11 am.

Maine CDC says Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. If one person has measles, 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will become infected.

Symptoms of measles include:
·Fever
·Cough
·Runny nose
·Red, watery eyes
·Rash that spreads from the head down.

Individuals who develop symptoms should contact their health care provider for instructions before going to the provider’s office or hospital. This will help prevent the spread of further infection. If symptoms are consistent with measles, a health care professional may test to determine a measles infection.

Measles can cause severe sickness including pneumonia, encephalitis (brain swelling), and death. An infected person spreads measles through coughs or sneezes. Once infected, a person is contagious from four days before their rash starts through four days afterwards. The virus remains alive for up to two hours on surfaces and in the air. The period from exposure to onset of symptoms is typically 10 to 14 days, but can be longer.

The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best prevention for measles.