UPDATE: Suspected Measles Case Not Measles After All

Test results show two potential measles cases in McLean County were not instances of measles after all.

OSF Saint Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington says the mother and daughter who had a rash have tested negative for the rubeola virus, also known as measles. The two had gone to OSF Promptcare on Fort Jesse Road in Normal over the weekend.

Health care workers there shut down part of the facility until it could be decontaminated. OSF says it cannot say what illness caused the rash that presented similar enough symptoms to prompt a measles inquiry.

---UPDATE ADDED TUESDAY, MARCH 17 2015.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The McLean County Health Department is investigating two potential measles cases in Bloomington Normal.

A woman and a small female child received an initial diagnosis at OSF Promptcare on Fort Jesse Road in Normal on Sunday.

Health Department Spokeswoman Lisa Slater said testing will be conducted to determine whether the initial assessment is correct.

"Patients are considered to be contagious about four days before and four days after the rash appears," said Slater.

It may take several days for the test results to come in.

Measles is highly contagious and can spread to others through airborne contact from coughing and sneezing, or by contact with contaminated surfaces. 

This year, fifteen measles cases have been reported in the state --- all of them in Chicago or suburban Cook County.

Slater says OSF Healthcare has taken necessary precautions to isolate both the patients and the potentially contaminated facilities used by them until they can be disinfected.