Arizona health agencies confirmed Friday that a 1-year-old child in Pima County has been diagnosed with measles, the first confirmed case in the state this year.

The Arizona Department of Health Services and the Pima County Public Health Department said in a joint statement the case involves an individual with "Asia-related travel."

Health officials are investigating whether there was any community exposure to the disease, the release said.

“We are working with our healthcare and public health partners to make sure we quickly identify any possible exposures to the community that may have occurred,” said Marcy Flanagan, director of the Pima County Health Department.

“As more and more cities and counties across the United States experience cases of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, we are working hard to prevent that from happening in Pima County,” she said.

The release warned that measles spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms appear seven to 12 days after exposure but may take up to 21 days to appear.

It begins with a fever, red, watery eyes, cough and runny nose and is followed by a rash that is red, raised and blotchy.

The rash begins on the face at the hairline and moves down the body and may last five to six days.

In February, Arizona health officials warned that the measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest, which infected more than 50 people, could make its way toward Arizona.

Arizona offers vaccine exemptions for non-medical reasons, making Maricopa County a hot spot for a measles outbreak, due to the high number of unvaccinated residents, mostly children, in the area, according to the Public Library of Science Journal.

In Maricopa County alone, 2,947 non-medical exemptions were granted for vaccines in the 2016-17 school year.

Measles is a more common disease in other parts of the world such as Europe, Asia, the Pacific and Africa, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Worldwide, about 89,780 people die of the disease each year.

Most measles cases in the U.S are caused by unvaccinated people who get infected while traveling internationally and bring it back home, exposing others who are not vaccinated, which can cause outbreaks in areas where non-medical exemptions are common.

The CDC says, “Anyone who is not protected against measles is at risk of getting infected when they travel internationally.”

“We know that infectious diseases are just a plane ride away,” Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. “Measles is a serious and highly contagious disease that can spread quickly. We recommend that everyone is vaccinated against measles to help keep our communities safe."

The measles vaccine typically is administered to young children as part of a combined vaccine known as MMR, which also includes vaccination against mumps and rubella, also known as German measles.

Last week, Maricopa County health officials reported two cases of mumps were confirmed in Chandler.

The Republic's Ally Edelmann contributed to this story.