Coachella attendees on alert after local measles case

COACHELLA, Calif. (KESQ) -- Coachella and Stagecoach are just weeks away as the county deals with a recent measles case.

For Andrew Vasquez going to Coachella is a desert tradition.

He attended fresh off the year it was cancelled for the COVID-19 pandemic and is getting ready to welcome dozens of friends this year.

"I did go back the first year that it did come back. There was a bit of nervous energy in the air, for sure. People were just you know staying a little bit more distant and stuff," Vasquez said.

Those health fears are back after a Coachella Valley resident tested positive for measles this week.

It comes as cases for the highly contagious disease spike nationwide, with over 600 across the country and 9 in California.

"Do I expect more? I can't say we will or we won't, but we will be prepared if we get more," Barbara Cole with RUHS Public Health said.

Over 250,000 people will attend both Coachella weekends, with 2019 data finding more than 20% travel overseas.

"The cases from California are linked to travel. So someone could have gone to a location where there was measles and got exposed if they weren't protected then become infected," Cole said.

Her advice for those coming in and out of the Coachella Valley?

"Check the infections before you go somewhere. Know what's happening. Could be measles, could be other diseases in terms of protecting yourself. Secondly, make sure you're up to date with your vaccinations. Particularly if people are traveling with young children it's important that they get it two weeks before leaving because it takes about that amount of time for the body to start building antibodies that protect them," Cole said.

She says vaccine boosters make sense for children around 4-5 years old who received their first vaccine at 12 months. For adults, she recommends those with underlying conditions talk to their doctor.

Vasquez tells me his group isn’t too worried about measles but they are keeping an eye out for the 'Coachella cold.'

"Infamously there's always the Coachella flu a little bit. There's Coachella cough. You know, there's just things that happen. You're around a lot of people. You're exposed to thousands of people. Like it's going to happen," Vasquez said.

For more information on how to protect yourself against measles, visit About Measles.