A resident of Maryland has confirmed a case of measles, the first case in the state since 2019

CNN
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A Maryland resident has a confirmed case of measles, the first case of the infectious disease in the state since 2019, according to a Montgomery County press release.

The county advised that anyone who visited the Cabin John rink in Bethesda on May 24 or a professional office in Gaithersburg on May 30 may have been exposed to measles.

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, which can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes or shares germs by touching objects or surfaces. Even after an infected person leaves a room, the measles virus can live for up to two hours in the air.

The illness begins with symptoms typical of many respiratory illnesses, followed by a characteristic rash that usually appears on the face and spreads downward three to five days after the onset of symptoms.

Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, thanks to an intensive vaccination program, according to the US CDC website.

Even if a disease is eliminated, outbreaks can still occur if an unvaccinated person travels to or from a country where the disease is still common, becomes infected, and brings it back to the United States, introducing the virus to a community. The traveler can transmit measles to any unvaccinated person.

In the United States, more than 90% of children have been vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella by age 2, according to the CDC. Two doses of the vaccine are 97% effective against measles, according to the CDC.

However, vaccination rates in the United States have dropped in recent years, triggering new epidemics.

There have been 10 cases of measles this year in the United States as of April 28, the CDC reported.

There were 121 measles cases in 2022, many of which were centered on a outbreak in central Ohio, sending 36 children to the hospital. The last major measles outbreak in the United States was in 2018-2019 in Rockland County, New York, concentrated among unvaccinated children in Orthodox Jewish communities.