Measles in the US

East coast to West coast in early 2024

Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is currently tracking an outbreak of measles.

Image/CDC

In response, the City is working to identify everyone who may have been exposed, checking their vaccine status, warning them that they may have been exposed, and issuing quarantine and exclusion recommendations where necessary.

Currently, the Health Department is reporting that there are 9 total confirmed cases.

The health department is working to contact people who may have been exposed at the following places and times.

If you were at any of the above sites on the days listed, you may have been exposed to measles.

New Jersey

The Camden County Health Department is closely monitoring a confirmed case of measles in the county. An investigation is being conducted to identify contacts and all locations the subject visited while infectious. The source of the infection is unknown.

The Camden County Health Department is working diligently with our healthcare partners to identify and notify anyone that has had exposure to this case. A Camden County resident who was exposed to measles visited two health care facilities on Jan. 5 and Jan.8. The time and place of the visits were:

• 1/5/2024,  11:35AM – 2:32 p.m. Cooper University Healthcare Pediatrics, 6400 Main St, Voorhees Township, NJ 08043

• 1/8/2024, 8:00 PM- 12:38 a.m. Emergency Department at Jefferson South Jersey Stratford Hospital, 18 Laurel Road Stratford NJ 08084

Delaware

The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) is reporting a potential measles exposure at the Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington on December 29, 2023. An extensive contact tracing investigation identified between 20-30 people exposed to the individual who was not symptomatic but was infectious at the time of their visit to the facility. 

DPH communicated with the identified potential exposures confirming vaccination status, providing educational resources and issuing quarantine and exclusion orders when necessary.  After thorough review and analysis following the contact tracing investigation, DPH is issuing a public notification to any persons who visited the facility on December 29, 2023, from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM that there is the potential for measles exposure.

Virginia

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) was notified of a confirmed case of measles in a person who traveled through Northern Virginia when returning from international travel. Out of an abundance of caution, VDH is informing people who were at various locations, including Dulles International Airport on January 3, 2024, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 4, 2024, that they may have been exposed. Health officials are coordinating an effort to identify people who might have been exposed, including contacting potentially exposed passengers on specific flights.

Listed below are the dates, times, and locations of the potential exposure sites associated with this case of measles:

• Dulles International Airport (IAD): the international arrivals area of the main terminal between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 3, 2024

• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA): Terminal A between 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 4, 2024

Missouri

The Clay County Public Health Center was notified of a confirmed case of measles in a Liberty, Missouri resident who was at the Kansas City International Airport on Thursday, January 4 and North Kansas City Hospital from January 5–6.

Potential measles exposures include:

- Anyone in Terminal B, general concourse or baggage claim on the evening of January 4, 6:15 pm – 9:00 pm. Health officials are contacting potentially exposed passengers of the specific flight

- North Kansas City Hospital Emergency Department waiting area/patient processing/observation on 1/5/24 from 8:26 am to 4:15 pm

- North Kansas City Hospital 2nd Floor Admission Unit on 1/5/24 from 2:15 to 8:30 pm

- North Kansas City Hospital 8th Floor Pavilion Medical & Surgical Patient Unit on 1/5/24 from 6:30 pm to 1/6/24 8:30 pm

Washington

Six cases of measles have been confirmed in southwest Washington.

Health officials in Clark and Wahkiakum counties say the cases are all from one family and no one else has been exposed.

Measles

Measles transmission is primarily spread person to person through respiratory droplets. Airborne transmission has been documented in closed areas for up to two hours after a person with measles has occupied the area.

Measles is an extremely contagious virus. Each person who has measles can infect dozens of others as Kent State University professor, Tara Smith, PhD, wrote about in 2015 comparing it to Ebola when that was in the news:

Remember a few months back, when that figure was circulating showing that Ebola wasn’t particularly easy to spread? Well, measles very much is. The basic reproductive rate for Ebola is around 2, meaning on average each infected person will cause an additional 2 infections in susceptible individuals.

And what’s the reproductive number for measles?

Eighteen. Eight. Teen. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it is literally one of the most contagious diseases we know of.  On average, if you have 10 susceptible individuals exposed to a measles patient, 9 will end up getting sick.

Measles symptoms usually appear about a week or two after being infected. The first symptoms are usually:

• High fever.

• Cough.

• Runny nose.

• Red, watery eyes or pinkeye.

A few days after the first symptoms, more symptoms appear. Those symptoms are:

• Koplik spots, which are tiny white spots that can appear in the mouth.

• Measles rash, which usually begins as flat spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet.

• An even higher fever, which can present when the rash appears.

If you are exhibiting symptoms or have been exposed to someone with measles, please contact your primary care physician get tested and report the exposure.

Measles is a very dangerous virus.  

• About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who gets measles in the United States is hospitalized. 

• As many as 1 out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children. 

• About 1 child out of every 1,000 who gets measles will develop encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, which can lead to convulsions and can leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability. 

• Nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications. 

The MMR vaccine is proven safe and effective at preventing measles having been administered for over five decades.  Testing shows the vaccine to be 97% effective at preventing measles for those who have received two doses of the MMR vaccine and are not severely immunocompromised. Children should get their first dose of vaccine between 12 and 15 months of age and their second dose between 4 and 6 years of age.

According to the CDC, as of January 4, 2024, a total of 48 measles cases were reported by 20 jurisdictions in 2023.