Importance Score: 75 / 100 🔴
Health officials are sounding the alarm over a potential measles exposure at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport.
An infected passenger visited the airport’s terminal A twice in the last week, potentially exposing others to the world’s most infectious disease.
The person was at the terminal on March 25, between 3:45 and 6:15pm, and again on March 27, between 2 and 7pm. The individual also visited a Starbucks on March 26 from 6 to 8:30am and stayed at a Marriott in Park Ridge, New Jersey.
Officials are warning anyone who fears they may have been exposed to contact their health provider and monitor for symptoms in what is the latest in a string of measles scares to rock America’s major airports.
In the past month alone, John F. Kennedy airport along with hubs in Washington DC and Los Angeles were all plunged into chaos over measles alerts.
It comes amid a major outbreak in West Texas, that has already sickened 422 people and led to the death of a six-year-old girl — the first in the US in a decade.
Nationwide, cases crossed a grim milestone last month surpassing the tally for the whole of 2024 and reaching their highest level since 2019.
Shown above is Newark Liberty International Airport, which is at the center of the latest measles scare
The latest patient also visited an Irish Pub in their hotel on March 26 from 5 to 7:15 pm and the Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus on March 27.
They were in the emergency department between 6:45am to 12:15pm and in the radiology and laboratory department between 8:30am and 11pm.
The person is believed to have arrived in New Jersey on a flight and is described as a non-New Jersey resident.
Officials are warning anyone who may have been exposed to the virus to monitor themselves for symptoms for the next two weeks, particularly if they are unvaccinated, and contact their health provider.
Anyone who develops symptoms is encouraged to immediately contact health services for treatment.
Newark Airport is one of three major airports serving the New York City, New Jersey and tristate areas. It has about 49million people pass through it annually.
Officials say no infections linked to the infected individual have been reported to date.
Measles is one of the most infectious diseases in the world, with one person capable of spreading the virus to nine out of every 10 people they meet if those individuals are unvaccinated.
Measles is transmitted via breathing in infectious droplets that can remain suspended in the air for two hours after an infected patient passes.
Patients develop a fever, cough, and runny nose, which then develops into a rash that starts at the hairline before spreading to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet.
There’s no cure for measles, with doctors instead using antibiotics to treat related infections and IV fluids.
If unvaccinated, about one in five people who are infected are hospitalized while one in 20 children develop pneumonia.
Among unvaccinated children infected with measles, about one in 1,000 will develop encephalitis — or swelling of the brain. And nearly one to three out of every 1,000 will die from the disease.
The vaccine is 97 percent effective at preventing an infection and is required for children attending school in some states.