Health officials: Auto show attendees may have been exposed to rubella

Lurking among the hot new cars and crowds of journalists at this year's North American International Auto Show was a potentially serious virus, state health officials warned Friday. 

If you attended the Detroit auto show press preview days Jan. 13-15, you may have been exposed to rubella, also known as the German measles, the state Department of Health and Human Services said. 

People who may have been exposed and are unsure of their vaccination status should contact their health care providers for information about next steps, health officials advised.

Rubella is virus that can cause a low-grade fever, sore throat and a rash that starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. Symptoms can also include pink eye, runny nose, swollen and enlarged lymph nodes and cough, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Rubella can also cause a miscarriage or serious defects in the developing fetus if a woman is infected while she is pregnant.

The virus is primarily spread through the air by coughing and sneezing.

State health officials were notified that a resident of another state attended the auto show Jan. 13-15 and had been diagnosed with rubella.

Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the MDHHS, said she did not know which state the infected person is from, but noted the person may have been contagious while in Detroit.

"It's possible," she said. "We are doing this out of an abundance of caution, making sure people are aware. Especially for pregnant women, this could be an issue."

Symptoms can begin 12 to 23 days after exposure, but a person with rubella may be contagious up to one week before a rash appears and remain contagious for up to seven days after, according to the CDC.

The CDC estimates 25 percent to 50 percent of people infected with rubella do not develop a rash or have any symptoms.

The disease can be prevented with a vaccine, which is included in the combination measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and is included in the series of routine childhood immunizations.

The potential exposure occurred during auto show’s press preview, when thousands of journalists from across the globe were in Detroit to watch vehicles being revealed and to interview auto executives. Perhaps fortunately, this year’s press preview appeared to have attracted fewer journalists than in past years, in part because several German automakers decided not to attend.

This was the final time the North American International Auto Show will be held in January. Next year, the show moves to June.

The last time a case of rubella was reported in Michigan was 2007, Sutfin said.

"It could be another week before we start seeing cases," she said, if unvaccinated people were exposed during the auto show. "This went out to health care providers, who might not have been looking for rubella. So this may spur some reports now that this announcement has gone out."

More information about rubella is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at cdc.gov/rubella.

Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. Staff writer Eric D. Lawrence contributed.