False alarm on measles, Pa. says

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said late Friday that tests for measles had come back negative in a case that it had alerted the public about previously.

The person who had been described as a "likely" measles case had visited a CVS/Pharmacy in Wayne on Sunday evening and the Please Touch Museum in Fairmount Park on Monday afternoon. An advisory for people who do not have immunity was issued two days later.

"Based on initial information received from those involved in the treatment of the individual and based on initial investigation by the department, it was believed this was a likely case of measles and public notification was made out of an abundance of caution," Health Secretary Michael Wolf said in a news release.

"Measles is a highly contagious disease and there is a small window of time after exposure to receive the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine or immunoglobulin for those who have not been vaccinated. . . . Since Wednesday, further investigation was conducted and samples were taken for testing by the state's lab, which confirmed the individual has tested negative and there is no public health risk for measles at this time."

- Don Sapatkin