People who traveled through Washington Dulles International Airport on March 5 or went to the Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center Pediatric Emergency Department are advised to monitor themselves for measles symptoms.
A Howard County resident who returned from an international trip was diagnosed with measles. That traveler was at Terminal A on March 5, took transportation to the main terminal and stopped at the baggage claim area between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., according to the Maryland Department of Health.
The individual was at Johns Hopkins on March 7 between 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Health officials advise anyone who was at either location to check themselves for early symptoms of measles, including a fever higher than 101 degrees, runny nose, cough and red and watery eyes. Within one to four days after those symptoms occur, a red rash appears on the face and then spreads throughout the body.
Measles symptoms typically develop 10 to 14 days after exposure to the virus but can develop as soon as seven days and as long as 21 days after exposure. A person with measles is contagious, beginning four days before the rash appears until four days after the rash begins, according to state health officials.
People are generally considered immune if they have had two measles vaccine shots, previously had measles or laboratory evidence of immunity or infection or were born in the United States before 1957.
Those most at risk of complications from measles infection are pregnant women, infants less than one year old and those who are immune compromised. People in these at-risk groups who may have potentially been exposed and are not immune should contact their health care provider or call Howard County Health Department’s Infectious Disease Surveillance and Response Program at 410-313-6284 for additional guidance.
People experiencing those early symptoms are asked to stay home and contact their health care provider. Call first. Do not show up unannounced so as not to spread the disease.
Maryland previously had one case in 2024 and another in 2023. There were no cases reported between 2020 and 2022.
