Over 24 cases of measles have now been linked to California's Disneyland theme park, CBS News reported on Tuesday.
Seven more cases were reported to the California Department of Public Health on Monday, making the total number of cases total 26 so far.
At least eight of the infected children have not been vaccinated against the virus, health officials said. Disneyland or Disney California Adventure were visited by most of the infected people between Dec. 15 and Dec. 20, but some have fallen ill from being around those who had been at the park.
Out of the infections, 22 were in California, two in Utah who are siblings and one each in Washington and Colorado. The oldest patient is 21-years-old and the youngest is 8-years-old.
"This could easily turn from two people into dozens, hundreds, if you don't jump on it very quickly," Dr. Joseph Miner, executive director of the Utah County Health Department, said regarding the cases in Utah. The Utah patients were children who visited Disneyland the week before Christmas.
Measles is spread easily through coughing or sneezing, with infected drops staying highly contagious on surfaces for hours. It is spread from person to person often before infection is realized and can cause cough, fever, runny nose, red rashes and red eyes, the OC Register reported.
"The real difficult thing with measles is you become infectious four days before the rash starts, so even before you recognize it as measles, you can be infecting other people," Dr. Helene Calvet, Orange County deputy health officer, said.
Over 90 percent of Americans are vaccinated against the virus, and often times, it's contracted by someone traveling overseas who is not vaccinated. Disneyland is a popular destination for international travelers, so it could have easily spread that way.
