8 measles cases after sick person went to ninja gym, Costco, capture-the-flag game in Redding

Eight people in Shasta County have contracted measles, bringing the state’s total to 17 cases so far this year.

The first Shasta County case was identified on Jan. 30; the seven others were in people who were “close contacts” of that first patient, the county’s public health department said on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

To locate more people who might have been exposed during the initial patient’s eight-day contagious period, the public health team issued a list of places in Redding where that person was known to have gone:

• Ninja Coalition training facility, afternoon of Jan. 23
• Outdoor capture-the-flag game at Highland Neighborhood Park, afternoon of Jan. 23
• Osaka Sushi, evening of Jan. 23
• Indoor basketball game at former CrossPointe Community Church, afternoon of Jan. 24
• Costco, 4805 Bechelli Lane, evening of Jan. 24
• Churn Creek HealthCare clinic, afternoon of Jan. 28

People who were at one of those sites are asked to call the Shasta County Measles Information Line at (530) 638-5580.

A surge in measles cases in the United States has been reported since mid-January, bringing the total for 2026 to 733 as of Feb. 5 and putting the nation on the verge of losing the measles-free status it has held since 2000.

Of the 17 California cases, two were in the Bay Area:

• A San Mateo County case confirmed Jan. 15 in an unvaccinated adult who had returned from an international trip.

• A Napa County case confirmed Jan. 21 in an unvaccinated child who had returned from South Carolina, where an outbreak has numbered in the hundreds. It was Napa County’s first measles case since 2012.

Among the California cases were two in people who visited Disneyland. In 2025, California had 25 measles cases in the entire year, and didn’t reach a tally of 17 until June.

On Sunday, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who oversees the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, urged Americans to get the measles vaccine. His boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been a vocal skeptic of U.S. vaccine recommendations.