Someone with measles has visited Google headquarters, health officials say

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By April 10, California had reported 21 cases of measles this year. Two of these cases (one adult and one child) were reported in San Mateo County and four in Santa Clara County (one child and three adults), according to the California Department of Public Health.

Britt Ehrhardt, head of public health communications at the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, said in an email that there was "no additional risk to the community" and that the person who had visited Google was not related to other cases in Santa Clara County.

She added that the County Health Department conducted contact investigations when suspected cases of measles were reported to determine where the infected person was while she was contagious and with whom she was in contact. This allows health officials to inform those who have visited places where there has been a possible exposure to measles.

CNN contacted Google for this story, but had no news Wednesday night.

Measles is a highly contagious and vaccine preventable respiratory disease characterized by eruption of red and flat plaques. Symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes. Measles can also lead to death when complications become serious, according to the CDC.

The United States has experienced a resurgence of highly contagious disease this year, with at least 555 people sick in 20 states, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Epidemics have been linked, in part, to the anti-vaccination movement and the dissemination of misinformation about possible side effects of proliferating online vaccines.

Critics have called on technology companies to take greater responsibility for public health disruptions on their platforms.

In February, US representative Adam Schiff wrote a letter to Sundar Pichai, president and CEO of Google, asking him to tackle these problems. "I write about my concern that YouTube [owned by Google] is surfacing and recommends messages that discourage parents from vaccinating their children, posing a direct threat to public health, and reversing progress in fighting vaccine-preventable diseases, "said Schiff.

Schiff sent a similar letter to Facebook. In March, Facebook, the largest social media site in the world, is attacking anti-vaxers by lowering the rankings of groups and pages spreading misinformation about vaccination in its news feed options. and Research.

Jacqueline Howard of CNN contributed to this report.

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