A traveler passing through Newark Liberty International Airport tested positive for measles – one of the world’s most infectious diseases – earlier this month, officials said.
The patient zero passenger was in terminals B and C on Dec. 12, according to a press release from the New Jersey Department of Health.
“Measles symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, watery red eyes, and a rash that usually appears between three and five days after symptoms begin,” health officials warned in the release.
“The rash usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, torso, arms, legs and feet.”
The airborne virus can spread when someone coughs or sneezes – and lingers in the air for up to two hours after the infected person leaves the area.
Officials implored anyone who suspects they were exposed to the illness to call their health provider before visiting a medical care center or hospital.
“NJDOH is working in collaboration with local health officials on ongoing contact tracing and on efforts to notify people who might have been exposed and to identify additional exposures that may have occurred,” officials said in the release.
The NJDOH said that anyone who is not fully vaccinated or has not contracted measles in the past are at risk.
While measles is highly contagious, the infection produces decades-long immunity – but the two-dose vaccine offers lifelong immunity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This year, there have been 11 confirmed cases of measles in New Jersey, according to NJDOH.
A record 8.03 million travelers are expected to fly across America this holiday season, according to AAA.
Newark isn’t the only major airport to report detections of the viral disease during the holidays.
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The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed that a visitor from Texas was diagnosed with measles after flying into the Boston Logan International Airport on Christmas Eve.
The traveler was on American Airlines Flight 2384, which departed from Dallas-Fort Worth, according to a release from the MDOPH.
As of Dec. 30, there have been 2,065 measles cases in the US in every state except Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina and West Virginia, according to the CDC.
The US previously touted its elimination of the virus 25 years ago. Declining vaccination rates killed the celebrated herd immunity – resulting in a three-decade high of measles cases.
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