They discovered a measles outbreak with four cases in the Canary Islands.

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, May 24. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands notified this Friday of an outbreak of measles in the islands with four confirmed cases, of which three are minors and one is an adult.

The index case corresponds to a minor who was not vaccinated, while the two affected children had not yet been vaccinated.

The General Directorate of Public Health has followed up more than 400 contacts of the cases to check their vaccination status and inform them of measures to take if they begin to show symptoms, the ministry said in a statement.

The GCS General Directorate of Public Health reminds us of the importance of vaccination to prevent the transmission of measles, a disease of which no new cases have been reported for many years.

Measles is a febrile exanthematous disease that begins with fever, nasal congestion, cough, and sometimes small erythematous spots with a whitish center may appear on the oral mucosa.

The rash, which appears three to seven days after the onset of symptoms, begins on the face and spreads throughout the body.

It is also highly contagious and is spread through respiratory droplets or direct contact with infected people.

In 2017, WHO declared Spain free of endemic measles transmission due to the low number of detected cases and outbreaks. However, cases have recently been reported in nine autonomous regions, with outbreaks reported in five of them.

Until the first week of May, there were 42 confirmed cases of measles in Spain.

The measles vaccine is given in two doses at 12 months and three years of age, and 95 percent of the Canary Islands population is vaccinated correctly in the first year of life.

The Directorate General of Public Health insists that the vaccine is the most effective way to prevent contracting or transmitting measles.