Manitoba Health asks some Ag Days attendees to monitor for measles

Officials are urging anyone who attended Ag Days or visited hotels and shops in Brandon, Man., last month to monitor for measles symptoms.

The agency says there was a suspected exposure during the event.

According to Manitoba Health, those who visited the event at Keystone Centre between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Jan. 20, 21 and 22 are asked to monitor themselves. Those who visited Jan. 20 are asked to monitor until Wednesday, while visitors on Jan. 21 monitor until Thursday and those at the event on Jan. 22 monitor until Friday.

Those who visited Ag Days’ Agriculture in the Classroom event at the Provincial Exhibition of the Manitoba Dome Building between Jan. 20 and 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., are asked to monitor themselves until later this week.

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Exposure notices have also been issued for those who visited the town of Winkler, Man.

Those notices involve anyone who visited the Stacked Pancake and Breakfast House on Feb. 1 from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., as well as the Boundary Trails Health Centre public health office on Feb. 2 from 10:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Anyone who visited the Boundary Trails Health Centre emergency department on Feb. 3 from 7 p.m. until 1:10 a.m. the next morning is also asked to monitor.

Manitoba Health says those who believe they may have been exposed should ensure they’re up to date on their measles vaccinations.

People who were born in 1970 or later and never received a measles vaccination and never had an infection are also asked to reduce exposure with others, especially anyone who has a weakened immune system, from the fifth day of exposure to the 21st day after their latest exposure.

Initial symptoms of measles can include a fever, runny nose, cough, drowsiness, irritability, and red eyes. Small white spots may also develop on the inside of the mouth or throat.

“Several days after the initial symptoms, a red blotchy rash appears on the face and progresses down the body,” Manitoba Health says in a release.

The symptoms typically present themselves within seven to 21 days after being exposed to the virus.

If symptoms develop, people who may have been exposed are asked to isolate at home and contact their health-care provider and advise them of the potential exposure.

The disease spreads through droplets in the air formed when coughing or sneezing, Manitoba Health adds.

—with a file from The Canadian Press