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Additional cases of the disease are reported at the airports of Detroit, Newark, New Jersey and Memphis, Tennessee. Here's what you need to know about measles and how to know if you are protected.
USA TODAY & # 39; HUI

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Electron microscopic image of the measles virus.(Photo: CDC Public Health Image Library)

Residents in the area may have been exposed to measles by an international traveler who was diagnosed with the highly infectious virus shortly after returning to the United States.

Before the unidentified man was diagnosed, he went to several places in the tri-state area, including a gym in Montvale.

The traveler visited the Lifetime Gym on Van Riper Road in Montvale on October 5 between 8:30 am and noon, the New York State Department of Health announced Saturday.

Anyone who visited the site at the same time may have been exposed to measles, according to a health alert.

The traveler returned from Israel and between 4 and 11 October he could have exposed other people to the disease during his presence on the site and until two hours later, announced the New York Department of Health.

He also visited official sites in Monsey, Nanuet and New City in New York, officials said. He was treated urgently at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York, on October 11 between 3:45 pm and 4:15 pm, officials said.

Measles: An infected passenger may be exposed to measles at Newark Airport

Influenza: 100 years have passed since the 1918 catastrophe caused by the Spanish flu. Could we have another global epidemic?

The virus remains alive in the air and on surfaces up to two hours, according to information from the Department of Health. Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus that is transmitted through direct contact with the nasal or throat secretions of infected people.

People are considered protected or immunized against measles if they were born before 1957, received two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR), had the disease or had a laboratory test confirming their immunity.

According to health officials in New York, people who are not immune to measles and who have been exposed are at risk of getting measles. The preventive treatment of measles is recommended to people with no evidence of immunity, as follows: MMR vaccine can be administered to eligible exposed persons within 72 hours of exposure OR immunoglobulin can be administered within six days of exposure.

CDC information on protecting your child against measles (Photo: Federal Centers for Disease Control)

All people who have been exposed to measles, especially those who are not immunized or who do not know if they have been vaccinated, should contact their health care provider if they develop measles symptoms.

Symptoms include fever, rash, cough, conjunctivitis, or runny nose. Symptoms usually appear 10 to 12 days after exposure, but can appear as early as seven days and up to 21 days after exposure.

More information on measles can be found at https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/2170.pdf.

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