The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health was notified of a confirmed case of measles at Washington Dulles International Airport on March 5, 2025. The agency says West Virginia residents could have been exposed.

A case of measles was confirmed in Howard County, Maryland, marking the state’s first case of the year. The resident who contracted the virus recently traveled internationally. This case is not related to the measles outbreak in West Texas,

The health department said there may have been exposures at Dulles’s international arrivals area and a Howard County pediatric emergency department.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that can spread through the air when a person breathes, coughs or sneezes. It is preventable through a safe and effective vaccine – the MMR shot that provides immunity to measles, mumps and rubella – and health officials said in 2000 that the virus had been eliminated in the United States.

Anyone who was at Dulles Airport’s international arrivals area March 5 between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST may have been exposed to measles, a highly contagious airborne disease that can remain infectious in the air and on surfaces for hours after an infected person leaves the area.

Officials say the site of the possible exposure site is in terminal A of the airport, happening on transportation to the main terminal and the baggage claim area between 4-9p.m.

A Maryland resident who passed through Terminal A at the Washington, D.C., area airport last week tested positive for the highly contagious virus.

The West Virginia Department of Health issued an alert announcing that West Virginia residents could have been exposed to measles. According to a press release, West Virginia Bureau for Public Health was informed that a measles case was confirmed on Wednesday,

The West Virginia Bureau of Public Health was notified of a confirmed case of measles at the Washington Dulles International Airport.