With little more than a month before the first day of school, state health officials announced July 11 measles was detected in Provo-area wastewater.
“So we're on full alert here in Summit County. The team is doing what we can to get messaging out to work with our schools. You know, the timing of this is really tough,” Summit County Health Director Phil Bondurant said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” July 14.
Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District Director Mike Luers confirmed that his two facilities already submit wastewater samples to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. The state health department began testing for measles July 1.
Testing wastewater doesn’t provide information about who may be infected or pinpoint where they are. But, it does provide a more accurate picture about a disease because it catches cases that have gone unreported.
Bondurant said the measles virus in the Provo-area wastewater, for example, was in a different area of Utah County than where the initial cases were reported.
“Which indicates that it might be a little bit wider spread than originally anticipated,” he said.
He adds that the virus, which is airborne, is “considered the most contagious preventable disease known to public health.”
“Measles is not likely going to cause significant illness in families if you're unvaccinated, but there is a high likelihood that it's going to disrupt your life for a short period of time,” Bondurant said.
Symptoms include a fever, cough, red and runny eyes, a runny nose and a body rash, which may emerge seven to 14 days after exposure.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the best protection against measles is two doses of the MMR vaccine.
Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, but now there are more than 1,200 reported cases. Nine are confirmed in Utah as of July 11.
Seven are in Utah County, two in Washington County and all were in unvaccinated individuals.
