Residents of Brisbane, Australia have been warned about symptoms of a highly infectious measles virus that had been confirmed.
The person with a confirmed case of the illness visited Westfield Chermside Thursday and Brisbane airport, the domestic terminal on Friday while already infected, Queensland Health said.
"The problem is, measles is a airborne infection, it transmits in small airborne droplets," Rod Davidson, a Queensland Health physician told reporters. "Those airborne droplets can hang around for up to 2 hours after the person has coughed or sneezed."
Symptoms usually start about 10 days after infection. Symptoms include: fever, lethargy, runny nose, moist cough, sore and red eyes, followed shortly by a blotchy red rash. The rash starts on the face and later spreads.
Queensland Health recommends anyone born during or since 1966, who has not had two documented doses of measles, mumps vaccine or had proven measles, should visit their local GP to get a free vaccine for measles at the earliest.
"Measles can be very distressing for those affected, and complications can include pneumonia or encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and occasionally death," Davidson said. "It can be a severe illness even in otherwise healthy adolescents and young adults."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
