You May Have Been Exposed To Rubella At The Detroit Auto Show

If you ventured to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says you may have been exposed to Rubella (German Measles).

MDHHS has been notified by another state that one of their residents who attended the Auto Show Jan. 13-15 has been diagnosed with rubella. This individual may have been contagious while in Detroit.

Rubella is a viral illness and its symptoms can include a low-grade fever, sore throat and a rash that starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. It is an airborne virus and spread through coughing and sneezing. Symptoms can begin between 12 and 23 days. People infected with rubella are most contagious when the rash is erupting, but they can be contagious from seven days before to seven days after the rash appears.

Here's the scariest part of the story: "Rubella can cause a miscarriage or serious birth defects in a developing baby if a woman is unvaccinated and infected while she is pregnant. Rubella can be prevented with rubella-containing vaccine, which is primarily administered as the combination measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and is included in the series of routine childhood immunizations.", according to MDHHS.