Public health100 Utah employees quarantined after measles outbreak

A measles outbreak has forced a power plant in northern Utah to keep hundreds of its employees at home.

Last week an employee at the Intermountain Power Agency power plant in Delta, Utahtested positive for measles prompting officials to order an estimated 100 employees and contractors born after 1957 to stay home until they can show that they have been fully vaccinated.

The power plant has a total of 500 employees and provides parts of southern Utah and Los Angeles with energy. Officials do not expect the outbreak to generate any disruptions in its operations.

John Ward, a spokesman for the energy company, said “From an operational standpoint, this fits in the inconvenience category. People will have to shuffle schedules a bit, but we’re still running.”

Of the employees order to stay at home, some were able to find their vaccination records while others are still trying to determine their immunization status and could remain on paid leave for up to twenty-one days.

Meanwhile, local health officials are working to ensure that the outbreak does not spread.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that can be transmitted in the air by sneezing or coughing. Symptoms include fever, runny nose, coughing, and the tell-tale rash. Approximately one third of those infected with measles develop complications that can include meningitis, pneumonia, seizures, encephalitis, blindness and brain damage.

The employee at the power plant is believed to have caught the disease in Logan, Utah while on a trip. Health officials believe that this case is linked to the larger outbreak in Cache County, which is potentially a result of a previous outbreak that started earlier this year in Salt Lake City.

So far five people in Cache County have requested that they isolate themselves as they believe they may have contracted the disease. Officials are encouraging individuals who may have come into contact with the infected and have not received their measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to step forward and quarantine themselves as well.

According to Jennifer Brown, the director of the Bureau of Epidemiology in Utah, local officials are interviewing everyone the infected individuals may have come into contact with visiting schools, churches, and offices.

“We strongly encourage individuals to stay up to date with their immunizations, as the MMR vaccine is one of the most highly effective vaccines given,” said Bruce Costa, executive director of the Central Utah health department.