In the most significant outbreak of measles in the United States in over 20 years, over 800 cases in 23 states have been reported since the beginning of the year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 39 cases in California, including a Placentia resident who traveled to Vietnam, a foreign country that had a measles outbreak. The affected individual attended a viewing of “Avengers: Endgame” in Fullerton.

The Diamond Bar High School Wind Ensemble’s  performance at UCLA  on April 26 was canceled after a UCLA student contracted the highly contagious disease and was quarantined, along with 119 students and eight staff members.

Many had to be isolated for a week to see if they were vaccinated. The incubation period ended on April 30.

Measles, also called rubeola, is caused by a virus that lives in the nose and throat and spreads through the air when an infected individual coughs or sneezes.

Symptoms associated with measles include a fever of 101 degrees, dry cough, sore throat, runny nose and a rash of red spots.

After being near the virus, people can go up to 21 days not showing any of the symptoms.

Nine out of 10 people who have not received the vaccine will get the measles when they have been to exposed to them, according to the UCLA Newsroom.

After hearing about the UCLA measles outbreak, district nurse Terry Guest said that the Walnut Valley Unified School District was on alert, waiting for warnings or any updates on the measles outbreak from the LA County Health Department.

The mandatory immunization California policy was established in 1950s and will be later updated on July 1, 2019 with the most recent regulation.

It states that anyone attending California schools, including those in WVUSD, must receive the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine in order to go to school.  

This vaccine has two doses, which are administered when individuals are at 12 through 15 months of age and when individuals are four to six.

“The measles vaccine has been proven very safe, and research has shown that it does not cause autism, which was one of the biggest things out there,” Guest said. “People need to be vaccinated, and I think it is the best way to prevent the outbreak from spreading.”

For more information on measles and how to protect themselves, the LA County Health Department encourages California residents to visit publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/measles.