Hundreds of students and staffers at two Los Angeles universities were ordered to be quarantined on campus or sent home Thursday due to possible exposure to the measles.
Officials with the University of California, Los Angeles, and California State University, Los Angeles, have been working with state officials to identify and contact students and staff who may have been exposed to measles this month, The New York Times reported.
UCLA officials said Wednesday that there were 119 students and eight faculty members under quarantine, KTLA-TV reported.
Officials with Cal State LA told KTLA that 71 students and 127 staff members were quarantined after it was confirmed that a person with the measles visited a campus library April 11. The library receives about 2,000 visitors a day, so the number of those exposed wasn’t immediately known, KTLA reported.
Those who are quarantined must provide immunization records or undergo a blood test to prove immunity.
In most cases, the measles causes fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The measles can cause rare, but serious complications such as pneumonia and a dangerous swelling of the brain.
As of Wednesday, the number of confirmed measles cases in the United States is at its highest -- 695 -- since the disease was declared eliminated from this country in 2000, according to the CDC.
The CDC recommends the vaccine for everyone over a year old, except for people who had the disease as children.
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