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I was reading an NHK Easy News article today about the measles outbreak and came across this sentence:

厚生労働省{こうせいろうどうしょう}は、４月{がつ}の終{お}わりから５月{がつ}の初{はじ}めの休{やす}みの間{あいだ}に、はしかのウイルスがうつった人{ひと}は、これから熱{ねつ}やせきが出{で}るかもしれないと言{い}っています。

I translate most of this sentence as: "The Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Labor says that during the break at the end of April to the beginning of May, people infected with the measles virus were not even aware of a fever or cough."

I'm not sure how to incorporate the これから though with this phrasing though, as I've usually seen it as an conjunction at the beginning of a sentence or clause.

I think if there wasn't a comma after 間｛あいだ｝ I think I would want to read the subject as "people who caught measles during the break" and then これから would be an adjective saying "the fever from the measles."

What do you think?

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これから熱やせきが出るかもしれない

The これから means 今から, "from now" "starting now" or "soon".

４月の終わりから５月の初めの間に modifies はしかのウイルスがうつった.

～かもしれない means "may~~" "might~~".

The sentence is parsed like this...

厚生労働省は、『（４月の終わりから５月の初めの休みの間に、はしかのウイルスがうつった）人は、これから熱やせきが出るかもしれない』と言っています。

The Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Labor says that ［people （who were infected with measles virus during the break from the end of April to the beginning of May） may start to have a fever or cough from now］.

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  • this totally makes sense, should have realized that people would know if they are coughing or not. In this sense does it sound like "people exposed to measles" as opposed "people who have measles"? – katatahito May 16 at 7:33
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    うつった here means 感染した (でも発症してない / 潜伏期間にある), "were infected (but the symptoms haven't appeared / are in the incubation period)", so I think "people who have measles" is closer. – Chocolate♦ May 16 at 7:38
  • @Chocolate is correct that "people exposed to measles" doesn't really work here, because people can be exposed to a disease without contracting it; however, "people who have measles" also sounds quite odd in reference to people who are asymptomatic. Something like "people who were infected with measles during the holiday period from the end of April to the beginning of May" is probably the best choice in a case like this. – Nanigashi May 16 at 18:01

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