Published: Monday, February 07, 2011, 6:45 PM     Updated: Tuesday, February 08, 2011, 10:06 AM

State health officials are warning Harrisburg area residents about possible exposure to measles. Measles is a highly contagious illness that, in rare cases, causes severe illness or death. it can cause pregnancy complications in pregnant women.

The warning is related to five confirmed measles cases in Perry County, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. It’s aimed at people who visited the Newport Public Library between 5:50 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and the Lowe’s store at 4000 Union Deposit Road in Lower Paxton Township between 4 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Friday. the possible exposure at the library involves people who attended a book sale in the basement of the library on North Fourth Street in Newport, Perry County.

The health department is warning people present at those locations to be on the lookout for measles symptoms, which can include runny nose, watery eyes, cough and high fever. after several days, those symptoms are followed by a raised, red rash that begins on the face and spreads down the body. Symptoms begin one to two weeks after exposure.

The five Perry County cases involve members of one family, said Dr. Stephen Ostroff, Pennsylvania’s acting physician general. a sixth person, who isn’t a member of the family but had contact with them, is suspected of having measles. That person, a child, was present at the library and Lowe’s store, and could have spread the illness, Ostroff said.

While measles are highly contagious, the odds of spreading them in a large area such as a department store are low, Ostroff said. Also, the vast majority of Americans are immune to measles because they’ve been vaccinated, or were exposed to measles during the pre-vaccine era, according to the health department.

The people who are at risk include infants less that a year old who haven’t yet been vaccinated, people who received an inactivated vaccine used from 1969 to 1967, and people born after 1957 who received only one dose of the MMR vaccine, which includes vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. Also at risk are people who refused vaccine or come from areas were vaccination wasn’t available.

In the days before vaccine, Ostroff said, children commonly got measles and made a full recovery. however, some had to be hospitalized, and the disease caused several hundred deaths annually, Ostroff said. “this is a very good reminder of why it’s important to be vaccinated,” he said.

People who are at high risk can obtain protection through a dose of immune globulin given within six days of exposure, according to the health department.

Ostroff said anyone who develops measles symptoms should contact their doctor. Doctors or people with symptoms who need information, or want to obtain the immune globulin, can call the health department at 877-724-3258.

Information is available on the health department’s website at health.state.pa.us/pdf/epi/MeaslesFactSheet.pdf.