A Public Health Emergency in Washington State has led the BC Centre for Disease Control to urge travellers to be careful.

There are 37 confirmed cases of the measles so far, 36 of those in Clark County, near the border with Portland, Oregon.

“Places like schools where kids with measles have attended, but also some public settings where people may go if they’re going down there for shopping and so one,” said Dr. Monika Naus, with the BC CDC.

“I think for the most part though, it’s individuals who are probably visiting families in Clark County, they have personal connections with those families, who are at the greatest risk.”

Naus notes, for now, places like Bellingham, Lynden, and Blaine in Washington, frequented by B.C. residents are not affected.

“This is the one where we can easily demonstrate vulnerability where these kinds of things get imported into a community with low vaccination rates,” she added. “We recommend that all children get two doses of measles-containing vaccines, and adults should check their immunization records as well.”

“Make sure they’ve been vaccinated, especially if they’re born after 1970.”

Measles was eradicated in the U-S in 2000, but it has reappeared in recent years due to the increase in anti-vaxxers.