ANN ARBOR, MI - It wasn’t measles at all.

Washtenaw County’s first reported case in a Michigan measles outbreak turned out to be a false positive, health officials said three days after alerting the public Monday, April 8 to what was initially believed to be a confirmed case of the infectious illness.

There are in fact no confirmed measles cases in Washtenaw County, health officials told The Ann Arbor News and MLive on Thursday, April 11.

A child exhibiting symptoms of measles initially tested positive for the viral disease, but additional testing showed it was not a case of the measles, said Susan Ringler Cerniglia, Washtenaw County Health Department spokesperson.

The child’s symptoms were caused by a reaction to a vaccine, she said.

“(The vaccine reaction) is not a case,” Ringler Cerniglia said. “It can give that false positive, but it can’t be transmitted and spread. You cannot get measles from the vaccine."

In response to the initial test results, the health department warned the public of possible measles exposure at a community center, a restaurant and an athletic club. There is no longer any reason to fear measles exposure at those sites, officials said.

While this case was a false positive, it is still important for people ro be vaccinated to protect against measles, Ringler Cerniglia said.

Measles symptoms include: runny nose, red eyes, cough, fever, sore throat, tiny white spots in the mouth, and a raised, red rash that appears on the third to fifth day of illness, according to the health department. The rash starts on the face and spreads down to the arms and legs and lasts four to seven days.

Symptoms start seven to 14 days after being exposed and can last one to two weeks. It is spread through through sneezing, coughing or speaking. An individual with measles is contagious for four days before and four days after the rash appears, according to the health department.

The vaccine, if administered within 72 hours of exposure, can prevent illness, according to the health department.