Quarantine ordered at two LA universities

Los Angeles public health officials issued quarantine orders for more than 200 staff and students at two universities this week due to five confirmed cases of measles in the area. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), said 119 students and eight faculty members were under quarantine as of Wednesday. It was not immediately clear how many were quarantined at California State University, Los Angeles. The order requires people who might have been exposed to measles and either have not been vaccinated or cannot verify that they are immune to remain isolated until proof of immunity is established, usually in 24 to 48 hours, officials said. Some people may be quarantined for a week.

“One person with a confirmed measles case can expose thousands of people to measles,” Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said at a news conference Thursday.

A UCLA student diagnosed with measles might have exposed 500 people earlier this month. As of Thursday afternoon, 79 of them had not provided the required medical records, the university said in a statement. At Cal State, an infected student visited the library, and 156 people who might have been exposed could not provide immunization records as of Thursday afternoon, according to the school.

The five Los Angeles County measles cases are linked to overseas travel. This year, California has had 38 cases of measles across 11 counties. The number of measles infections in the United States hit a 25-year high this week with nearly 700 cases since the start of the year, most of them in New York.