Arizona on high alert for measles ahead of the Super Bowl

The MMR vaccine is almost 100 percent effective in preventing the disease.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Arizona health officials are monitoring 1,000 people, including nearly 200 children, who may have been exposed to measles.

CBS 10 reports that officials are worried about transmission of the disease at the Super Bowl, because there is a 90 percent transmission rate for anyone who comes into contact with infected people.

Hundreds of people may have been exposed to the virus after a second measles case, which stemmed from the outbreak at Disneyland, was diagnosed. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, the recent outbreak is due, at least in part, to parents not vaccinating their children, because the measles vaccine is 99 percent effective. Experts have suggested unvaccinated people who have been exposed to measles stay at home for three weeks.

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"A lot of people don't realize measles is the most contagious infectious viruses that we know of," CBS News medical contributor Dr. Holly Phillips said on CBS This Morning on Friday. "Not only can people cough and sneeze it on you, it lingers in air for up to two hours, it lives on surfaces for up to two hours, so you can be exposed and not even realize it."

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.