Measles Exposure Alert in Morris County: Whippany Convention, Morris Plains Hotel, Morristown Pharmacy and Er on State's List

A convention at a Whippany hotel. A stay in Morris Plains. An evening stop at a Morristown pharmacy and a late-night visit to the emergency room. If you were at any of those places on certain days last week, New Jersey health officials want you to check your vaccine records and watch for symptoms. The person who may have exposed you doesn't even live here.

The state Department of Health said Friday, Nov. 13, that a measles patient from outside New Jersey visited several Morris County locations while contagious. The department listed these exposure windows:

LegionsCon at the Hanover Marriott, 1401 Route 10 East, Whippany: Nov. 6 from 8:50 to 11 a.m., and Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Sonesta Simply Suites Parsippany Morris Plains, 100 Candlewood Drive, Morris Plains: Nov. 6 at 9 p.m. through noon Nov. 7, and Nov. 7 at 5:45 p.m. through 12:45 a.m. Nov. 11.

Walgreens, 203 South St., Morristown: Nov. 7 from 4:40 to 7:40 p.m.

Morristown Medical Center emergency department, 100 Madison Ave., Morristown: Nov. 10 at 10:50 p.m. through 1:30 a.m. Nov. 11.

Measles spreads easily. The department said the virus travels through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes and can hang around for up to two hours after that person leaves a room. People who aren't fully vaccinated and have never had measles face the highest risk. Early signs are a high fever, cough, runny nose and watery red eyes, followed three to five days later by a rash that starts at the hairline and moves down the body. Complications can include pneumonia and swelling of the brain, and in pregnant people, miscarriage, premature birth or low birth weight. Anyone exposed could get sick as late as Dec. 4.

So far, the picture in New Jersey is contained. As of Friday, no other cases tied to this patient had been found in the state, and New Jersey is not in an outbreak, which the CDC defines as three or more related cases, the department said. Nationally, the CDC had counted 5,182 confirmed measles cases and 43 new outbreaks across 47 jurisdictions this year as of Nov. 6, according to the department.

If you were at one of these spots and start feeling sick, call your local health department or your doctor before you show up at any office or ER, so staff can keep other patients from being exposed. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective at preventing measles, the department said, and it will post updates at nj.gov/health/measles.

Source: New Jersey Department of Health.

Image: Colorized electron micrograph of a measles virus particle. CDC and NIAID / Wikimedia Commons (public domain).