Measles Outbreaks Trigger Health Agencies to Be on High Alert

A sign warns of the dangers of measles in the reception area of an office in Arizona. (Tom Stathis/AP Photo)

Health officials in several U.S. cities and states are on alert after multiple outbreaks of measles were reported, including at two major airports.

There were eight cases confirmed in Philadelphia since December 2023, while an individual with measles traveled to two Washington, D.C.-area airports in recent days. Cases have also been identified in New Jersey, Kansas City, Delaware, and Washington state, according to various media reports.

For the New Jersey incident, officials said they are working to identify the source. “No direct link has been identified to the ongoing measles outbreak in Philadelphia,” a statement from the state’s health agency said.

In Delaware, authorities said that an outbreak occurred at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington on Dec. 29, with as many as 30 people exposed, according to reports.

At least two counties in Washington state reported six cases of the virus in recent days, too.

In addition to the cases appearing in the United States, at least 1,600 cases in England and Wales have been reported since 2023.

Federal officials have confirmed at least 48 measles cases nationwide as of Jan. 4, 2024. More than 1,200 measles cases have been confirmed since 2019, according to federal data.

Alert Sent Out

An alert was sent out in the Washington, D.C., area by health officials as the city’s health agency, DC Health, said on Tuesday that it “has been notified of a confirmed case of measles in a person who traveled through” area airports after returning from “international travel.”

But it said that the “threat of transmission is low,” although the health agency indicated it is notifying people who were at the airports about “their potential exposure.”

The exact exposure may have occurred at Dulles International Airport in the international arrivals area of the main terminal between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Jan. 3, as well as at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s Terminal A between 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, Jan. 4, according to the health agency.

Health authorities are now working to identify people who may have been exposed to measles, including working to contact possibly exposed passengers on several flights.

Neither statements from the Virginia and Washington health agencies listed the airlines or flights the infected person used. It’s also not clear what country the person had been traveling to.

Months before the COVID-19 pandemic started worldwide, health officials in New York’s Rockland County declared an emergency in 2019 after more than 100 people were diagnosed with the virus in the area. At the time, the declaration had banned minors who were not vaccinated for measles from appearing in public places, including shopping centers, schools, and restaurants.

Symptoms

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health authorities say that measles is a highly transmissible illness that spreads through the air when a person breathes, coughs, talks, or sneezes.

The virus generally shows up in two stages. In the first, most people develop a fever higher than 101 degrees Fahrenheit, runny nose, watery red eyes, or cough. These symptoms generally start seven to 14 days after being exposed.

Officials say the second stage of measles starts about two to three days after the initial symptoms. Some people develop what is known as Koplik spots—tiny white spots—inside the mouth, according to the CDC.

Three to five days after the first symptoms begin, the telltale measles rash starts to appear on the patient’s face near the hairline area before it spreads to the rest of the body, spreading downward, the CDC says.

“Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots,” and the “spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body,” the agency says. “When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit.”