King County Health Officials Warn Of Recent Measles Case

SEATTLE — King County health officials on Monday confirmed a measles infection in a Snohomish County infant, and are asking certain residents to keep an eye out in the coming days in case they may have been exposed.

According to Public Health - Seattle & King County, the infant contracted the infection while traveling in South Asia before returning to Washington via SEA Airport. Testing confirmed the case, believed to be the state's first since 2020, on Monday. Washington typically sees only a handful of cases each year, with the recent exception of a larger outbreak in 2019.

Officials said the risk to the general public was low since most people have immunity from vaccination, but anyone who traveled through a potential exposure location will want to verify their vaccination status:

• SEA Airport: Feb. 19, 11:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.
• Seattle Children's Hospital (Emergency Room Lobby): Feb. 20, 12:34 a.m. - 2:49 a.m.

Anyone whose travel matches up with either timeline should do the following:

• Find out if they have been vaccinated for measles, have evidence of measles immunity from blood testing, or have had measles previously. Measles vaccination is recommended within 72 hours of exposure for people who are not already immune.
• Call a health care provider promptly if they develop an illness with fever or illness with an unexplained rash between now through March 12. To avoid possibly spreading measles to other patients, do not go to a clinic or hospital without calling first to tell them you want to be evaluated for measles.

Measles symptoms can include a fever, rash, cough and red eyes. The disease can be highly contagious to people without immune protection. Officials said symptoms can arrive one to three weeks after exposure.

Public health officials said the highest-risk groups for measles include pregnant women, infants under six months old and people with weakened immune systems. Most people in the following groups are generally considered immune:

• Those born before 1957.
• People with a blood test result that shows immunity to measles.
• Patients who have previously had measles diagnosed by a healthcare provider.
• Residents who are up-to-date on measles vaccines (one dose for children age 12 months through three years old, or two doses in anyone four years and older).

"Sporadic cases and small clusters of cases are usually initiated by importation after travel from another country where measles is more widespread," officials wrote Monday. "Larger outbreaks are often seeded in the same way but then flourish if the virus enters a network or community with low vaccination coverage. While 2-dose measles vaccination is safe and one of the most effective and durable vaccines in use, even fully vaccinated individually can rarely catch measles. In the 2019 outbreak, though, only 4% of cases were in fully vaccinated people."

Public health officials said the main objective moving forward is to reduce the chance of a second round of cases snowballing into a broader outbreak. More information on measles in Washington is available on the state Department of Health website.