Summer travel season amid brisk global measles activity is keeping health officials in several states busy investigating potential measles exposures, including several new ones at some of the United States’ busiest airports.
The measles activity also comes amid rising domestic cases in the United States, with the number of outbreaks increasing and nearing a record high since the disease was eliminated the United States in 2000.
East Coast exposures in Washington and Boston
The District of Columbia Department of Health (DC Health) said it has been notified of a confirmed measles case in an international traveler who arrived at Dulles International Airport on June 8.
Immediately afterward, the patient took a train from the airport to a location in Chevy Chase, Md., and a few days later took a bus trip to a DC neighborhood where he or she sought medical care.
Meanwhile, health officials in Boston reported that a person with measles visited Boston from June 7 through June 8 and visited several locations in the city while infectious, including a hotel and the Museum of Fine Art. The patient then flew from Logan Airport to Miami.
The Boston Public Health Commission said Massachusetts officials are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify and notify air passengers who may have been exposed.
Western state exposures in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado
The New Mexico Department of Health on June 13 warned that two patients who were traveling separately were diagnosed with measles during their visits to the state, which may have resulted in exposures in three counties: Bernalillo, Santa Fe, and Sandoval.
One of the patients is an adult with an unknown vaccination status and the other is an 18-month-old child with age-appropriate vaccination.
In Arizona, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health today said that a person infectious with measles traveled through Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport on June 10 and that the health department is working with federal, state, and airport officials to protect people who may have been exposed.
Elsewhere, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and their partners in Denver and Boulder have confirmed a measles case in a Boulder County resident who had recently traveled to Europe. The patient is a vaccinated adult.
Potential exposures occurred on a bus trip between Denver and Boulder, as well as at a coffee shop, markets, and a restaurant.
