According to the Santa Clara County health department, a person with measles visited Google’s Silicone Valley headquarters that is located in their own county. The person is a resident of San Mateo County.
California has reported 21 measles cases this year, as of April 10. Four of them (one child and three adults) were reported in Santa Clara County and two of them (one adult and one child) were reported in San Mateo County, according to public health officials.
San Mateo County reported two additional measles cases on Wednesday. Cassius Lockett, director of public health, policy and planning for the health department said in a statement that one of those cases was a resident who had recently visited Google’s headquarters.
Santa Clara County spokeswoman wrote an email stating, “The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department worked with Google to contact individuals in our county who might have come in contact with the person with measles while they may have been contagious.”
“There is ‘no additional risk to the community’ and that the person who visited Google is not linked to the other cases in Santa Clara County,” said Britt Ehrhardt, public health communications officer for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
No additional information was given about the case citing patient privacy law.
Ehrhardt said the county’s public health officials conduct contact investigations when suspected measles cases are reported to determine the location and source of the infected person. This allows them to inform people who have been in places where there could be a possible exposure.
Measles is a highly contagious disease and a vaccine-preventable respiratory ailment characterized by a rash of flat red spots and fever. Other symptoms may include cough, a runny nose, and watery eyes. The CDC says measles may even lead to death when complications get severe.
In February, U.S. Representative Adam Schiff sent a letter Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai, urging him to address the issues. Schiff wrote, “I am writing out of my concern that YouTube [owned by Google] is surfacing and recommending messages that discourage parents from vaccinating their children, a direct threat to public health, and reversing progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases.” In March, Facebook took aim against anti-vaxers by barring the groups and pages that spread vaccine misinformation in its Search and News Feed options.
