WASHINGTON — Virginian health officials sent out an alert regarding possible measle exposure on Friday, saying that several places in Northern Virginia, as well as Dulles International Airport, could be affected.
The notice was sent "out of an abundance of caution," the state health department said.
As for where the possible exposure is, officials said it varies:
- At Dulles, exposure could have occurred at the Gate C4 corridor to the mobile lounging docks, or to the main terminal baggage claim area to the International Arrivals Building. Both areas could have been exposed between the hours of 8 to 11:30 p.m. on Sunday.
- In Arlington, the Kabob Palace may have been exposed between 9 p.m. Sunday and 1 a.m. Monday. In Fairfax County, the Greenhouse Grill was potentially exposed to measles between noon and 3 p.m.
- In the Falls Church area, the Residence Inn at Gatehouse Road could have been exposed from 11 p.m. to midnight on Sunday, as well as all day Monday and Tuesday, and from midnight to around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
- Inova Fairfax Hospital ER and waiting room may have been exposed from Monday night at 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. Tuesday, as well as from 6:30-10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“People should not be scared of getting measles, but if somebody was in one of the locations where the person with measles passed through we recommend that they contact us at the Fairfax County Health Department and talk with one of our staff about their exposure and also about whether they had been vaccinated or have other evidence that they would be immune to, to measles,” Dr. Schwartz, a medical epidemiologist with the Fairfax County Health Department said.
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Measles spreads "through coughing, sneezing, and contact with droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of an infected individual," and is highly contagious, health officials said in a news release.
Schwartz said Sunday that the exposure spots are only contagious for a specific time period, which is either while the infected person is there or within two hours of the infected person being there.
How do you know if you might have measles? Health officials said to look out for two typical stages of symptoms:
- Watery eyes, running nose, persistent cough and a fever of more than 101 degrees
- After three to seven days, progressing symptoms that also show a rash that appears on the face and spreads over the entire body.
Schwartz said for people immune to the measles, meaning they could get infected, it could take seven to 21 days for symptoms to begin, and it can be spread before the onset of symptoms.
"For some of the places where this measles patient went, we know who was exposed in the health department has been reaching out to over 600 people who we know were exposed in one location or another," Schwartz said.