Measles Case Confirmed, Baltimore County Exposure Possible

BALTIMORE, MD — Maryland health officials say a case of measles has been confirmed in Baltimore County, and a Pikesville location may have exposed people to the highly contagious, and sometimes fatal, disease. On April 5, the Maryland Department of Health confirmed a measles case in a Maryland resident.

State health officials said in a news release that anyone who visited an office building at 4000 Old Court Road in Pikesville on Tuesday, April 2, may have been exposed to measles. Possible exposure times were from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day. People who may have been exposed at additional locations are being notified directly, the department said.

Measles is a viral infection which is easily spread to unvaccinated people through coughing, sneezing and secretions from the mouth. The measles virus may remain in the air for up to two hours, health experts say.

Anyone — especially those who have not been vaccinated against measles — who were at 4000 Old Court Road should watch for symptoms of measles, especially fever. People who develop a fever or other symptoms of measles should contact their health care provider, state officials urge.

If you have symptoms of the disease, do not go to child care, school, work or out in public, because you might be contagious. People with these symptoms should call their doctor about their symptoms before showing up in the waiting room so that the office can take measures to prevent spread to other patients.

Measles symptoms typically develop 10-14 days after exposure to the virus, but can develop as soon as seven days and as long as 21 days after exposure. Early symptoms of measles are fever more than 101F; runny nose; cough; and red, watery eyes. Usually, one to four days after the early symptoms, a red rash appears on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. A person with measles is contagious beginning four days before the rash appears until four days after the rash begins.

People are considered immune to measles if they were born in the United States before 1957, previously had measles or have had two measles vaccine shots.

Those who are most at risk of complications from measles infection are: pregnant women, infants less than one year old, and those who are immune compromised. Such persons who might have been exposed on April 2 should consult with their healthcare provider to see whether or not treatment with a medicine called immune globulin, which can help prevent measles if given within six days of exposure, is indicated.

There was one confirmed measles case reported in Maryland in 2018, which was a travel-related case imported from the country of Georgia.

More than 300 measles cases have been reported in 15 states between January and March 21, 2019, according to preliminary numbers released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far, the CDC says there have been 314 measles cases in the U.S. in 2019, which is already higher than the total number of cases reported in seven of the last nine years. In 2018, there were a total of 372 measles cases reported in the U.S., according to the CDC’s preliminary statistics.

“Anyone who is unvaccinated is at risk for measles and puts other unvaccinated people, both in and outside their community, at risk of contracting this dreaded disease,” the CDC said.

Additional information is available on the CDC website here.