AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Public Health says they are investigating the first confirmed case of rubella in Travis County since 1999.
The agency says it’s not related to the December case of measles confirmed in Travis County. Coincidentally, the last case of measles in the county before then was in 1999.
Officials said they notified people who “are in really close proximity,” to the patient, but since rubella doesn’t spread as easily as measles, they said they haven’t issued a public notice.
The rubella virus doesn’t live as long outside the body as the measles virus, making it less contagious than measles, officials said.
Symptoms of rubella are similar to measles, officials said. Rash, low-grade fever, headache, mild pink eye, swollen lymph nodes, cough or runny nose are all signs of potential infection. It spreads similar to measles — through airborne droplets from an infected person.
The people who are most at-risk, officials say, are children and pregnant women.
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