SAN ANTONIO – UPDATE: The Texas Department of State Health Services is reporting this case as the 10th case of measles in the state this year.
DSHS said the patient was visiting Guadalupe County from the Philippines, where there is an ongoing measles outbreak.
(Previously)
A suspected case of measles in San Antonio may be the ninth one detected across the state so far this year.
The Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed eight other cases in five different counties, including Bell, Denton, Harris, Galveston and Montgomery.
A spokesman for the department says the agency is still awaiting test results before adding San Antonio or Bexar County to the list.
However, Elizabeth Allen, public relations manager for the University Health System, says tests conducted by her organization came back positive for measles.
She said the person who was tested was an adult outpatient at one of the UHS facilities last week.
Allen did not disclose the gender or age of the person or identify which facility the person visited.
She said UHS turned over the information to San Antonio Metro Health.
Officials there, though, say they are not investigating the case because the patient lives outside of their jurisdiction.
They also say there have been no measles diagnosed among people who actually live in San Antonio.
Metro Health has forwarded the case to the state health department.
Because of that, Rita Espinoza, chief of epidemiology for Metro Health, was not able to comment on the case.
But she did discuss measles in general, saying it’s a disease that is spread through coughing and sneezing, and often mimics other illnesses.
“Usually, they're going to have a high fever. They may have cough, congestion or conjunctivitis, red eyes,” she said.
Eventually, infected people will develop a telltale red rash, starting at the hairline and spreading down the face and body.
Those symptoms, Espinoza said, can last as long as a week or 10 days.
“The best protection is the vaccination, the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR vaccine,” Espinoza said.
She said figures show people who have been vaccinated for measles rarely contract the disease.