Commuter infected with measles is San
Francisco LinkedIn employee
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[February 13, 2015] By
Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Northern
California commuter who health officials say may have exposed tens of
thousands of people to measles while riding San Francisco's Bay Area
Rapid Transit system while infectious is an employee of LinkedIn Corp,
the social networking company said on Thursday.
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The passenger, who commuted to and from LinkedIn's offices in San
Francisco on three days last week and also spent time at a San
Francisco restaurant and bar, represents the first case of measles
confirmed in Contra Costa County during an outbreak of the disease
that began in December.
"On Tuesday, Feb. 10, we were informed that an employee based in our
San Francisco office was diagnosed with measles. We are working very
closely with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and
following their recommended protocol for managing this situation,"
LinkedIn said in a written statement.
"The health and well-being of our employees is our absolute top
priority, and we will take whatever steps are advised to ensure
their safety and the safety of the general public," the
business-oriented social networking site said.
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Hani Durzy, director of corporate communications, said the company
was keeping its employees informed about the situation but that it
was otherwise "business as usual" in its San Francisco offices. The
infected employee was doing fine, he said.
Public health officials have sought to assure BART riders that the
risk of contracting measles was very low if they had been
inoculated, while urging anyone who had not to get the vaccine.
According to the California Department of Public Health, 110 cases
of measles have been confirmed in California, 39 of them linked to
the outbreak that authorities believe began when an infected person
from out of the country visited Disneyland in late December.
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More than three dozen more cases have been documented in other U.S.
states and in Mexico. Most people recover from measles within a few
weeks, although it can be fatal in some cases.
The measles outbreak has renewed a debate over the so-called
anti-vaccination movement, in which fears about potential side
effects of vaccines, fueled by now-debunked research suggesting a
link to autism, have prompted a small minority of parents to refuse
inoculations for their children.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 after
decades of intensive childhood vaccine efforts. But in 2014 the
country had its highest number of measles cases in 20 years.
(Additional reporting by Christina Farr; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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