Shakira concert in New Jersey may be linked to spread of highly infectious disease that's potentially deadly'
A Shakira concert held in New Jersey may have been linked to the spread of measles, health officials for the state are warning.
According to a press release from the New Jersey Department of Health, a person who attended the 48-year-old Colombian singer's concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on May 15 may have exposed numerous staff and attendees to the disease.
Measles, which is an airborne virus, is considered one of the most contagious diseases in the world, though it is preventable with vaccines.
According to the health department, anyone who was at the stadium from 7:30 p.m. on May 15 up through 1 a.m. of the following day could have been exposed to the virus.
In recent months, multiple states in the South and Southwest have been hit with measles outbreaks.
An outbreak in communities with low vaccination rates in West Texas proved to be particularly severe, with two children dying from the virus, while an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico was also determined to have been infected after dying.
According to a press release, a person who attended the 48-year-old Colombian singer's concert at MetLife Stadium on May 15 may have exposed numerous staff and attendees to the disease; pictured May 15
Unfortunately for attendees of Shakira's May 15 concert, the health department hasn't shared details about where the infected attendee sat or congregated during the show.
However, people who weren't particularly close to them may still be at risk of contracting measles due to the incredible transmissibility of the disease.
So far, the state's health department says that no cases of measles have been reported.
However, due to measles' incubation period, potentially infected individuals could feel totally normal as late as June 6 before developing symptoms of the illness.
According to USA Today, MetLife Stadium has a capacity for 50,000 attendees at concerts, which goes up to 82,500 for football and soccer games.
Part of the reason measles is so contagious is that the virus remains infectious for up to two hours in respiratory droplets floating in the air, which are spread via sneezing and coughing, though even just talking and breathing can spread the particles.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a scenario with one infected person, 90 percent of unvaccinated people in close contact with them will become infected.
The health department noted that the infected individual who attended the Shakira concert was from out of town, but it did not clarify if they had been previously vaccinated.
Fans who were lucky enough to miss Shakira's May 15 concert and instead attend her May 16 show got an extra treat with special guest Pitbull, who opened with a set of his own songs
The first dose is usually given to children between 9 and 15 months of age, and a second dose is administered between 15 months and 6 years.
Anyone who fears that may have contracted measles is urged by the NJDOH to call health-care providers in advance so that they can set up a dedicated treatment area to protect other patients from potential infection.
Earlier this month, the CDC confirmed that 1,024 measles cases have been reported so far in 2025 across 30 states.
The agency noted that 96 percent of the reported cases were in unvaccinated individuals, or people whose vaccine status was unknown.
The infected individual at the Shakira concert marks the second reported measles incident in New Jersey last week, as a passenger at Newark Liberty International Airport tested positive for the virus after spending multiple hours in terminal B, according to the health department.
Three cases were reported in the state earlier in the year and all originated in the same household in Bergen County.
Of the infected individuals, 128 were hospitalized so far this year, with 69 of those being children younger than five.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came under fire in recent months for downplaying the importance of vaccination in preventing measles amid the outbreaks while also promoting unproven treatments.
However, he later relented and said the MMR vaccine was the most effective way of preventing the spread of the disease.
Kennedy has for years been a vaccine skeptic who has falsely claimed that vaccines may cause autism, even though no link has ever been found between the condition and vaccines.
Fans who were lucky enough to miss Shakira's May 15 concert and instead attend her May 16 show got an extra treat with special guest Pitbull, who opened with a set of his own songs.
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