Health officials: Measles exposure at Google in Santa Clara Co.; most are vaccinated

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - Santa Clara County health officials say an adult San Mateo County resident infected with the measles virus was at a Google office in the last week. It was not clear if they visited the Mountain View headquarters or a satellite office elsewhere in Santa Clara County. 

Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County's health officer, said they have been monitoring the situation, but assured Santa Clara County has very high vaccination rates.  

"The vast majority of the population is protected," Cody said at Wednesday's afternoon news conference. "Is there anybody who has been exposed who is not protected?," Cody posed as a question health officials are facing. 

Meanwhile, San Mateo County health officials are working to find where else the person with measles may have traveled.

Marianna Moles, a Santa Clara County public health spokeswoman, said there was no additional risk to the public from the Google exposure. Santa Clara County has recently seen four unrelated cases of measles. Cody said that there have not been any secondary measles cases from any of those incidents. 

Dr. Cody briefly explained the process of a contact investigation "You need to try to understand; where was the exposure, who might have been exposed and who might need follow up."  

Santa Clara County health officials said they became aware of this exposure within the last week. Cody said the range of symptoms appearing from the time you are exposed to the measles bug is about 7 to 21 days.

Measles is highly contagious. Health officials said when there is a case, they take special precautions by diverting staff from their regular work to work on the measles cases. 

The California Department of Public Health is regularly updating measles information on their website. There are currently a total of two cases in San Mateo County, one in San Francisco, the aforementioned four cases in Santa Clara County and one case in Santa Cruz. 

For more information check cdph.ca.gov website. 

Bay City News reporter Supriya Yelimeli contributed to this report.