Paul Hiffmeyer/PR NEWSWIRE After initial reports of a December measles outbreak at Disneyland, at least 20 cases have been confirmed in four states. They all got sick for Mickey.
The number of confirmed measles cases connected to Disneyland in southern California has more than doubled since news of the outbreak broke last week.
There are now at least 20 confirmed cases for recent Disneyland visitors in four states — and that number could rise in the time you’d spend waiting to ride the Mad Tea Party.
“The situation changes daily, if not hourly,” Anita Gore, spokesperson for the California Department of Health, told the Daily News.
“Almost every time we test, there’s a new case,” she said.
The initial outbreak, reported on Wednesday, confirmed nine measles for recent Disneyland visitors — seven people in California and two in Utah.
Since then, the number of California cases has jumped to 16. The California Department of Health confirmed 14 as of Friday, the last day it kept count, Gore said.
The Orange County Department of Health reported an additional two cases.
One new case was confirmed in Colorado on Thursday, and another was confirmed in Washington the next day.
All of the infected visitors came to the park between Dec. 15 and 20, according to the California Department of Health.
The Colorado patient was treated in a Colorado Springs hospital and is no longer contagious, according to a release from the El Paso County Health.
The Washington case is a teenager from Grays Harbor who was not vaccinated. She was treated in a hospital after returning home, according to the Seattle Times.
An infected, unvaccinated California woman also flew into Seattle after visiting Disneyland in mid-December, the Seattle Times reports.
Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif. remains open as usual.
Disneyland said in a prepared statement Wednesday that it is working with the California Department of Health in its investigation. The park has not made a statement about the increase in infections.
A Disney rep told the Daily News the park has not yet reached out to the sick visitors.
Since measles was eradicated from the United States more than a decade again, Gore said the Department of Health believes the outbreak came from either an international visitor or an American parkgoer returning from an overseas trip.
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