Health officials in Pennsylvania announced that the measles scare this week at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia and in a nearby pharmacy was just a false alarm.

The person who had been described as a "likely" measles case had visited a CVS Pharmacy in Wayne on Sunday evening and the Please Touch Museum in Fairmount Park on Monday afternoon. An advisory for people who do not have immunity was issued two days later.

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The initial measles exposure alert came as health officials recorded 20 measles outbreaks nationwide over the past year despite the fact that measles is considered a vaccine-preventable disease, according to Health Secretary Michael Wolf news release.

"Measles is a highly contagious disease and there is a small window of time after exposure to receive the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine or immunoglobulin for those who have not been vaccinated. Since Wednesday, further investigation was conducted and samples were taken for testing by the state's lab, which confirmed the individual has tested negative and there is no public health risk for measles at this time," Wolf Added.

He said that there is no longer a public health risk for the measles in south-eastern Pennsylvania.

"Infected droplets and secretions can remain contagious on surfaces for up to two hours," said in a health department statement. The measles virus can also spread through the air and can remain airborne for a few hours.

Officials stated that symptoms could take up to two weeks to appear in those who were exposed to the virus.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 610 measles case in 20 separate outbreaks in 2014 alone, which is more than triple the number of cases in any single year since 2001.

Tagsmeasles, Please Touch Museum, Measles scare, Measles outbreak, CVS, Measles Virus, contagious disease