Emeril’s employee prompts measles advisory in Las Vegas

Clark County, NV has now reported four cases of measles this year after not seeing a case in some four years, the Southern Nevada Health District reported Wednesday.

Image/CDC

The two newest cases include a young child whose case was confirmed by appropriate testing on Wednesday, February 11. This case appears to be unrelated to the third case or previously reported cases. The child had previously received a single dose of the vaccine.

The other is an under-immunized adult whose case was confirmed by appropriate testing on Tuesday, February 10. The individual is employed at Emeril's New Orleans Fish House at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino.

This has prompted health authorities to advise people who dined at the restaurant after 4 p.m. between Wednesday, February 4 and Saturday, February 7 to review their immunization status and contact their health care providers if they are not fully immunized against measles and have not already had the disease.

In addition, the advisory extends to those who attended the Las Vegas Pet Expo at Cashman Center between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday February 7, as the above patient was there.

Clark County's first confirmed case of the year occurred in a vaccinated high school student, and, to date, no additional cases of measles have been identified among classmates. The period of concern for developing disease from being exposed to that student has ended. A second case occurred in an unvaccinated adult who is unrelated to the student. The Health District is currently contacting individuals who might have had contact with this patient.