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 The quarantine affects the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) and California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA)
and comes as the United States battles the highest number of measles
cases since the country declared the virus eliminated in 2000.
The United States has confirmed 695 cases of measles, the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. Many
of the case occurred in the states of New York and Washington.
California has confirmed 38 cases, state health officials have said.
The people ordered quarantined at the two California campuses were
exposed to measles and could not provide evidence they had been
immunized against the disease, the Los Angeles County Department of
Public Health said in a statement.
"Both universities are assisting with the implementation of
quarantine orders and determining how best to support students who
must be quarantined and who live on campus," the Department of
Public Health said.
At Cal State LA, the quarantine is related to a measles exposure at
a library on April 11. The quarantine initially affected about 200
employees, including some student-employees, the university said in
a statement.
That number was later reduced to 156 people, the Department of
Public Health said in an email on Thursday, and the quarantine will
end in a week.
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At UCLA, 119 students and eight staff members who were exposed to
measles at the campus earlier this month and could not provide proof
of immunity were ordered quarantined on Wednesday, the university
said in a statement.
Since then, officials have released more than 40 people from the
quarantine after establishing they had immunity. The UCLA quarantine
will end by Tuesday, according to the Department of Public Health.
The virus can lead to deadly complications, but no measles deaths
have been reported in the latest U.S. outbreak.
U.S. public health officials have blamed the nationwide outbreak,
which coincides with a global rise in the prevalence of the disease,
in part on the spread of misinformation about the safety of
vaccines.
Although the disease was eliminated from the country in 2000,
meaning the virus was no longer continually present year-round,
outbreaks still happen via travelers coming from countries where
measles is common, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention says.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by G Crosse and Leslie
Adler)
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