Health Officials Warn of Possible Measles Exposure at Major DC-Area Airport

Officials in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia warned that they are investigating a possible measles exposure at the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia involving a person who recently traveled internationally.

Health officials in Maryland and Washington said that the person who contracted measles is a resident of Maryland, and was returning home from international travel. Officials in Maryland said that the person specifically lives in Howard County, near Washington and Baltimore.

They stressed that the case is not connected with a measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico that has resulted in more than 200 cases in recent weeks.

Maryland health officials said that the person traveled through the Washington Dulles International Airport international arrivals area between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Officials with DC Health also said the person visited the airport’s Terminal A and was “on transportation to the main terminal and in the baggage claim area.”

They also visited the Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center Pediatric Emergency Department between 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 7, officials said.

“DC Health is informing people who were at these locations that they may have been exposed,” the agency said in a statement.

Other details were not provided about the potential measles exposure, including the age of the affected individual, whether he or she was vaccinated for measles, or where that person had traveled. The officials also did not say which airlines the person had used or whether the person had exposed other people on any flights.

Last year, authorities in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington released a similar warning after a person with measles traveled through two area airports, including Dulles and Ronald Reagan International Airport.

Symptoms of Measles

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health authorities, 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 stage, most people develop symptoms that include fever, runny nose, watery red eyes, and a cough. These symptoms generally start seven to 14 days after being exposed.

The second stage of measles starts about two to three days after the initial symptoms, officials say. 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, according to the health agency.

“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 CDC states. “When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Typically, once a person has had measles, he or she won’t get it again because the body develops an immunity to it.

On March 7, the CDC sent a health alert to health care providers and officials about the outbreak in New Mexico and Texas, which has led to more than 220 cases and two confirmed deaths in recent weeks.

“With spring and summer travel season approaching in the United States, CDC emphasizes the important role that clinicians and public health officials play in preventing the spread of measles through vaccination,” the agency said in its statement. “They should be vigilant for cases of febrile rash illness that meet the measles case definition, particularly in unvaccinated persons, and share effective measles prevention strategies, including vaccination guidance for international travelers.”

Source: theepochtimes.com/health/health-officials-warn-of-possible-measles-exposure-at-major-dc-area-airport-5822896