DC Officials Warn of Measles Exposures

Hundreds of people in the Washington area may have been exposed to measles after an infected man and his wife, a potential carrier of the virus, visited several public places earlier this month, health officials said Monday.

The case demonstrated the potential reach of the highly contagious disease, which had state and local officials in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia rushing to determine whether the virus may have spread or where. They released a list of seven sites, including restaurants and grocery stores across the region -- all visited by the two between April 4 and 10.

Dr. Reuben Varghese, public health director for Virginia's Arlington County and head of the regional public health committee, said people who were at those sites at the specific time periods listed and who are not vaccinated, should immediately call their public health departments.

"Diseases do not respect city, county or state borders," Varghese said. "In fact many in our area live, work and play across several jurisdictions, which makes a single case of measles in one jurisdiction a potential concern for our region."

Health officials say they confirmed Friday that the man, who lives in Washington, had measles. They said the man was treated and released from a hospital and is no longer contagious. Experts continue to monitor his wife, who was exposed to the disease, but have not confirmed if she became infected. Their names were not made public.

The couple traveled to India in March, and neither had been vaccinated, officials said. The last confirmed measles case in Washington was April 2008.

Measles, best known for a red skin rash, is a potentially fatal, highly infectious virus that spreads through contact with an infected person sneezing or coughing.

The latest case comes after four people were infected in nearby Maryland suburbs. Health officials say because measles has been nearly eradicated in the United States, having multiple cases in a short span is cause for concern.

World health authorities have said measles deaths have dropped significantly worldwide. But federal health officials say the disease has been resurgent in the U.S., with nearly half of those involving children whose parents refuse vaccination.

Recent cases in California, Pennsylvania, Iowa and now the Washington region show that as long as measles exists somewhere in the world, it's still a threat, said Athalia Christie, senior technical adviser with the American Red Cross and member of the Measles Initiative, a global group.

Regional health officials said the local sites where the infected man and his wife went are currently safe. Measles has a long incubation time, and now is the time when people who may have been exposed at those places could be developing symptoms, officials warned.

In addition, public health leaders urged parents to make sure children are vaccinated and doctors are on alert for any patients with measles symptoms. They also advised those who believe they have symptoms to stay home and to call hospitals before arriving for care -- so infection control measures can be put in place.

Earlier this month, health officials announced that four cases -- affecting three adults and a child -- had been reported since February in Montgomery County, Maryland. Officials believe the cases may have originated with an unvaccinated adult returning from abroad.

The D.C. case is not related to the four cases reported in Montgomery County, said Mary Anderson of the county's health department.

"It's becoming a regional issue," Anderson said. "We want to ... talk about specific exposure sites so people who've been at those places can be aware, and talk about the value of being protected against measles."

The disease is no longer endemic to the United States, thanks to high childhood vaccination rates, but every year cases enter the country through foreign visitors or Americans returning from abroad.