A South Bay resident with measles may have exposed others when visiting a Panda Express restaurant in Burlingame this week and undisclosed work and health care facilities before isolating at home, health officials said Friday.
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department said its staff is working to track any new measles cases in the region and warned the public to stay indoors if exposed. The person, who was vaccinated against the virus, is an adult who was exposed while traveling abroad, the department said in a news release. The two-shot measles, mumps and rubella vaccine series is 97% effective at preventing measles if a person is exposed, and cases are typically milder in vaccinated people.
While contagious, the person dined twice at a Panda Express in Burlingame near the intersection of Burlingame Avenue and Highway 82 on Monday and Tuesday. Members of the public could have been exposed between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., the health department said.
People who might have been exposed “should stay home and contact their health provider immediately before seeking care,” the department said.
Measles typically causes fever and rashes, but about 20% of patients are hospitalized, and roughly 3 in 1,000 die. Vaccination is the best protection against being infected by the virus and becoming dangerously sick with complications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine by age 6. Protection is lifelong, but breakthrough cases can occur.
According to the CDC, the virus may infect a vaccinated person if their immune system didn’t respond correctly to the vaccine, or if they were near someone with the virus for a long time. “Disease symptoms are generally milder in vaccinated people,” the CDC advises on its website, and “they are also less likely to spread the disease to other people.”
Other parts of the U.S. have seen major measles outbreaks this year, but the highly contagious virus remains relatively rare in the Bay Area thanks to strong vaccination rates, experts say.
The confirmed measles case this week is the first in Santa Clara County since May 2025, the health department said. This winter, authorities confirmed one case in San Mateo County and another in Contra Costa County. Neither case caused outbreaks, because vaccination rates are high enough that the virus couldn’t get a toehold in the population, experts said, and teams of contract tracers quickly identified the scope of exposures and notified the public.
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