Thousands of Shakira fans who attended a concert in New Jersey last week could have been exposed with measles, health officials warn.
There are growing fears the ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’ show at the MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants and Jets, on Thursday night could become a super-spreader event.
The warning, released by the New Jersey Department of Health, said potentially exposed individuals ‘could develop symptoms as late as June 6’.
Officials said an individual had attended the concert while infected with measles, triggering the alert. It was not clear whether the patient was vaccinated.
Fans had traveled from all over the US and internationally to be at the concert, which also included appearances from Pitbull and Wyclef Jean.
There have been several scares at airports recently after international travelers passed through them infected with measles, including an alert over a potential exposure at Newark Liberty International Airport released last week. The two cases do not appear to be linked.
The concert venue is just outside New York City, America’s largest metropolis and home to some 8.2million people. There have been five confirmed cases in the state so far this year, although none lead to major outbreaks.
Vaccination rates have been dropping across the US in recent years amid inoculation mandates and concerns over side-effects from vaccines, raising fears that once eradicated diseases could resurge in the country.
Fans who attended her ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’ show at the MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, on Thursday night and early Friday morning may be infected, officials say (stock)
Fans pictured above attending the Colombian singer’s concert at the New Jersey MetLife stadium
A major measles outbreak has already been declared in Texas — the largest to hit the nation in at least 20 years — after the disease started to spread in a community with low vaccine uptake.
More than 722 people have been sickened in the outbreak to date, while 92 have been hospitalized and two young girls, aged six and eight, have died.
Officials fear that the outbreak could continue for more than a year, and that it could cost the US its measles elimination status — achieved in 2000.
New Jersey officials said the measles alert covers both of Shakira’s two-hour back-to-back shows on May 16, with anyone at the venue between 7.30pm and 1am the next day potentially having been exposed.
Further details of the case were not revealed, including where they sat in the stadium, where they had traveled from, or how they had arrived at the venue.
No further cases of measles linked to this individual have been reported.
The alert comes just a day before Beyonce is due to perform at the venue for her Cowboy Carter Tour, with tens of thousands set to attend. Officials said these individuals should not be at risk of infection related to this alert.
Measles is the most infectious disease in the world, with infected patients able to pass on the disease to nine out of ten other people they expose who are not vaccinated.
It is passed on via droplets expelled in coughs and sneezes, which can hang in the air for up to two hours after a patient passes.
Illness begins with flu-like symptoms, before a patient develops a characteristic rash which starts at the hairline and then spreads across the whole body.
Shakira performed two sets from 7.30pm to 1am on May 15 at the venue
The disease is particularly dangerous for young children, with the CDC saying one in 20 unvaccinated children who are infected develop pneumonia while one in 1,000 suffer from encephalitis — or brain swelling that can cause permanent damage.
One to three in every 1,000 unvaccinated children who are infected also die from the disease.
Officials say the best way to prevent the infection is to get vaccinated, with two doses of the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) 97 percent effective against the disease.
Alerting residents, the New Jersey Department of Health said: ‘[We] are alerting residents about potential exposures associated with a newly identified case of measles in a non-New Jersey resident who attended a concert in New Jersey while infectious.
‘Individuals — especially parents, guardians, health care providers, and caregivers — are urged to be aware of the symptoms of this highly contagious virus.’
The New Jersey Transit was on strike at the time of the concert, but some did reach the venue using Coach USA buses that took attendees from the Port Authority to the stadium for the shows.
The MetLife — which can hold 82,500 people — was the second venue on the US leg of Shakira’s world tour, after she performed in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 13.
Her tour is set to take in another 14 US cities: Detroit, Boston, Washington DC, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Arlington, San Antonio, Houston, Inglewood, Phoenix, San Diego, Las Vegas and San Francisco.
The Colombian singer is pictured above at the show in MetLife
Shakira’s MetLife concert was a major hit, where she also brought out Pitbull, Rauw Alejandro and Wyclef Jean — who she sung her top song ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ with.
It comes after New Jersey health officials released an alert warning of a measles exposure at the main airport on Monday last week.
The infected individual traveled through Newark Liberty International Airport’s Terminal B, potentially exposing hundreds to the world’s most infectious disease.
Anyone who was in the airport between 12.30pm and 4pm that day was warned to monitor for symptoms.
The two infectious patients that triggered the alert are not thought to be related.
