Measles Alert Issued For Loudoun County

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA—Here's an alert regarding potential exposure to the measles, released Friday night by the Loudoun County Health Department. There are two locations in the county where, on Aug. 17 and Aug. 20, people "may have been exposed to a person with measles. Health officials are mounting a coordinated effort to identify people who may be exposed."

Below are the dates, times and locations of the potential exposure sites:

• Inova Medical Center at 205 Hirst Road, Purcellville, VA, on Friday, Aug. 17, from 8-11:30 a.m.
• 2 Riverbend Building at 44084 Riverside Parkway, Lansdowne, VA, on Monday, Aug. 20, from 1-5:00 p.m.

The Health Department is not aware of any other Virginia locations or dates where exposures may have occurred.

What should you do if you were at one of the above locations at the time specified?

Residents who believe they may have been exposed to measles at these two locations on the dates and during the time frames indicated, and have never received an MMR vaccine, please call 703-771-5512 and leave a message with your contact information and a Health Department representative will follow up with you.

• If you have received at least one dose of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the past, your risk of being infected with measles from any of these exposures is very low.
• If you have never received MMR vaccine, you may be at risk of measles. If you notice the symptoms of measles, immediately limit your exposure to others. Please call your primary health care provider to discuss further care. Call ahead before going to the office or the emergency room and tell your primary health care provider’s office that you were exposed to measles.

Measles is a highly contagious illness that is spread through coughing, sneezing, and contact with secretions from the nose, mouth, and throat of an infected individual. Measles symptoms usually appear in two stages.

In the first stage, most people have a fever of greater than 101 degrees, runny nose, watery red eyes and a cough. The second stage begins around the third to seventh day when a rash begins to appear on the face and spreads over the entire body. Based on the date of exposure, we have determined that if you were infected with measles, you may develop symptoms as late as Sept. 10.

Measles is easily preventable through safe and effective MMR vaccine. The best protection against future measles cases is the on-time vaccination of all susceptible persons. Two doses are recommended for most individuals with the first dose given at age 12-15 months and the second prior to kindergarten entry (age 4-6 years).

While few measles cases are reported in the U.S., the disease is common in many parts of the world, including popular tourist destinations. All persons who will be traveling internationally should be evaluated for measles immunity and vaccinated as needed.

For more information on measles, visit the Virginia Department of Health website.

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