Cayuga County has confirmed a third measles case, and the newest patient lives in the same household as a resident whose infection was announced Oct. 16, the Cayuga County Health Department said in an Oct. 19 release. All three Cayuga residents with confirmed cases were either unvaccinated or had no verifiable vaccination records. The county did not release exposure locations or say how the newest patient was infected.
The household link shifts the concern from scattered cases to close-contact spread. Measles is so contagious that up to 9 in 10 people without immunity who are close to an infected person will also become infected, according to the CDC's guidance for exposed people. Families share air and living space for days before a rash appears, often before anyone knows the illness is measles. That puts unvaccinated siblings, infants too young for vaccination, pregnant relatives and caregivers in the same home at the highest risk.
