SPARTANBURG — State health officials are cautioning that someone with measles visited a restaurant in Spartanburg amid an ongoing measles outbreak that’s tied to dozens of cases, potentially spreading the highly infectious disease to anyone who is unvaccinated or has a compromised immune system.
An individual infected with measles was at the Kanpai of Tokyo restaurant at 2300 Winchester Place from 3-6 p.m. Nov. 2, the S.C. Department of Public Health announced Nov. 10. A manager at the restaurant said they were not immediately available for an interview but added that the restaurant also found out on Nov. 10.
The state agency asks anyone who was at the restaurant during that three-hour span to contact their health care provider if they think they may have been exposed — especially if they do not have immunity to measles or if they develop symptoms.
South Carolina recorded its 35th measles case associated with the outbreak last week and a total of 38 this year, DPH reported Nov. 7. The latest announcement did not add to the tally, with numbers next expected to be updated Nov. 12.
More cases are expected from family members exposed to previous cases, the state said. There are currently 31 people in quarantine who were close contacts of previous cases, a quarantine that extends for 21 days. The state is crediting a quick system of identifying and isolating close contacts of infected people for limiting the spread of the highly contagious virus.
The outbreak, centered in Spartanburg County, was first reported Oct. 2. While it initially focused on two schools in Spartanburg County, it also involved a gym in Greenville and another business in Spartanburg — with many of the recent cases having no school involvement, a health official said. The virus is assumed to be circulating in the community, a public health official has said.
While the status of more recent cases was not addressed, all but one of the previously known cases were in unvaccinated people. That one person had received one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine instead of the recommended two.
Public health officials are also addressing the outbreak with community education and offering no-cost vaccines at mobile clinics at various sites around Spartanburg County.
Since it started offering vaccines in the county on Oct. 16, the department has vaccinated 31 people: 25 adults and six children. Two doses of the MMR vaccine offer a 97 percent or greater lifetime protection against measles, doctors previously told The Post and Courier.
Tom Corwin contributed to this report.
AloJapan.com