Health officials in Maryland have confirmed a case of measles in a resident who had recently traveled out of the country.
The Maryland Department of Health said the confirmed case in the individual from Howard County – they did not specify their age or gender – is not connected to the growing outbreak of measles in Texas and New Mexico.
However, if you traveled through Washington Dulles International Airport Terminal A on March 5 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. officials said you may have been exposed and should monitor for symptoms.
Anyone who was at the Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center Pediatric Emergency Department on March 7 from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. was also at risk of exposure, officials said.
The vaccination status of the infected individual was not provided.
Symptoms for the highly contagious respiratory disease are usually seen between one to two weeks after infection, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.
It typically begins with a high fever, cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes and eventually a rash.
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The CDC said it can be dangerous and deadly, especially for babies and young children.
The best way to prevent getting the disease is two doses of the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, according to the CDC.
Overall, there have been over 220 confirmed measles cases in the U.S. this year across more than a dozen states.
The overwhelming majority of cases have occurred in New Mexico and Texas as part of the outbreaks there, which officials have said are unrelated despite being geographical neighbors.
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