NOTE: All exposure locations in King County, including those from previous cases, are updated at kingcounty.gov/measles/cases.
Public Health – Seattle & King County is investigating a new measles case with possible exposures in King County. The King County resident, a woman in her 30s, spent time at sites in King County before she knew she was contagious. This is the fourth King County case identified this month, bringing the total to seven recent measles cases in Washington state residents.
At this point in the investigation, the information on the recent cases points to a common exposure from an unidentified person contagious with measles on April 25, 2019 at Sea-Tac International Airport, likely in the morning. Health officials have no reason to believe that there is currently an increased risk of getting measles by visiting the airport.
Locations of potential exposure to the public of this measles case in King County
Transmission of measles can occur before people know they have the disease, before any rash appears. Before the measles diagnosis was made, the infected individual was in the following public locations:
| Date | Time | Location |
05/10/19 | 4 am – 2 pm | Hudson Alki Bakery Store, SeaTac International Airport (pre-security Ticketing Level by B gate exit) |
05/11/19 | 4 am – 2:05 pm | Hudson Alki Bakery Store, SeaTac International Airport (pre-security Ticketing Level by B gate exit) |
05/12/19 | 4 am – 2:05 pm | Hudson Alki Bakery Store, SeaTac International Airport (pre-security Ticketing Level by B gate exit) |
5/13/19 | 4 am – 2:10 pm | Hudson Alki Bakery Store, SeaTac International Airport (pre-security Ticketing Level by B gate exit) |
5/14/19 | 10:40 am -1:45 pm | Valley Family Medicine 3915 Talbot Road S, Suite 401 Renton, WA 98055 |
5/15/19 | 10:40 am – 2 pm | Valley Family Medicine 3915 Talbot Road S, Suite 401 Renton, WA 98055 |
As more locations are identified, they will be added to a list of all measles cases and locations of exposure in King County at kingcounty.gov/measles/cases.
What to do if you were in a location of potential measles exposure
Most people in our area have immunity to the measles through vaccination, so the risk to the general public is low. However, anyone who was in the locations of potential exposure to measles around the times listed below should:
- Find out if you have been vaccinated for measles or have had measles previously. Make sure you are up-to-date with the recommended number of measles (MMR) vaccinations.
- Call a healthcare provider promptly if you develop an illness with fever or illness with an unexplained rash. To avoid possibly spreading measles to others, do not go to a clinic or hospital without calling first to tell them you want to be evaluated for measles.
- Vaccination or medication can be given after exposure in some cases to prevent illness – check with your healthcare provider. This is especially important for people at high risk for measles complications (see below).
Measles symptoms could appear starting from seven days after the first exposure to twenty-one days after the last exposure to someone with measles. Rash is most likely to appear a few days after the fever, ten to twelve days after an exposure.
More information about other cases in Washington state is available from the Washington State Department of Health. Public Health – Seattle & King County continues to work with the Washington State Department of Health, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, and Snohomish Health District to identify any connections between these cases.
About measles
Measles is a highly contagious and potentially severe disease that causes fever, rash, cough, and red, watery eyes. It mainly spreads through the air after a person with measles coughs or sneezes.
Measles symptoms begin seven to 21 days after exposure to someone with measles. Measles is contagious from approximately four days before the rash appears through four days after the rash appears. People can spread measles before they have the characteristic measles rash.
Measles complications can include ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia, and rarely, encephalitis (brain inflammation). Complications from measles can happen even in healthy people but those at highest risk include:
- infants and children under 5 years,
- adults over 20 years,
- pregnant women, and
- people with weakened immune systems from drugs or underlying disease.
If you are in one of these high-risk groups and were exposed to measles, be sure to contact your health care provider to discuss the need for treatment to prevent measles infection.
Measles is preventable with the safe and highly effective measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), two doses of the MMR vaccine are more than 95 percent effective in preventing measles and that protection is long lasting.
What public health officials are doing
Investigation of infectious diseases is one of the essential services local health departments provide. Because of increased measles activity nationally, health departments throughout Washington state are also alerting healthcare providers and working with schools and communities to provide education about preventing measles.
For more information about measles and measles vaccination: kingcounty.gov/measles
Originally posted on May 21, 2019.
Please do better research into childhood illnesses (which are NOT diseases). Measles is NOT a deadly disease in developed countries. People with very poor nutritional status (especially lacking in vitamin A) or compromised immunity (often CAUSED by vaccines) can die from a common cold, which is much more common in developing countries that lack nutritious food and clean water. When I was a child, measles was simply a rite of passage, and after contracting it in 1960, I and my siblings have lifelong protection from that illness. All those who have had measles also gain lifelong immunity, protection from some adult cancers, and developmental boosts. If you read about the history of measles on the NVIC site– https://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/measles/measles-history-in-america.aspx –you will discover that the rate of infection was already way down BEFORE the advent of toxic vaccines.
If you do more research, you will discover that 459 measles VACCINE deaths have been reported to VAERS, yet very few deaths from measles itself. There was one death in 2015. “The design and reporting of safety outcomes in MMR vaccine studies, both pre- and post-marketing, are largely inadequate.”16….As of November 30, 2018, there have been more than 93,179 reports of measles vaccine reactions, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following measles vaccinations made to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), including 459 related deaths, 6,936 hospitalizations, and 1,748 related disabilities. Over 50% of those adverse events occurred in children three years old and under. However, the numbers of vaccine-related injuries and deaths reported to VAERS may not reflect the true number of serious health problems that occur develop after MMR vaccination…” https://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/measles/measles-history-in-america.aspx
And let’s not forget that measles is a “side effect” of the MMR….in fact a number of the reported measles cases now are from vaccine strains of measles. Live-virus vaccines can cause the very illness they are purported to prevent through infection through a needle, as well as being passed on to others. Read a vaccine package insert to discover all the reported adverse events, which are not listed on the so-called “information sheets” that parents are given about these toxic and even deadly vaccines.
“During the 2015 California measles outbreak, many suspected cases actually occurred in persons who were recently vaccinated. 194 measles virus sequences were collected in 2015, with 73 cases found to have actually been vaccine strain measles.42 While referred to by the CDC as a vaccine reaction, a rash and fever occurring 10-14 days following vaccination is indistinguishable from wild type measles and requires confirmation by genotyping.43 Multiple studies have been published on vaccine strain measles and the inability of physicians to differentiate between wild and vaccine strain measles without genotyping” During the 2015 California measles outbreak, many suspected cases actually occurred in persons who were recently vaccinated. 194 measles virus sequences were collected in 2015, with 73 cases found to have actually been vaccine strain measles.42 While referred to by the CDC as a vaccine reaction, a rash and fever occurring 10-14 days following vaccination is indistinguishable from wild type measles and requires confirmation by genotyping.43 Multiple studies have been published on vaccine strain measles and the inability of physicians to differentiate between wild and vaccine strain measles without genotyping.” https://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/measles/measles-history-in-america.aspx
We are being fear-mongered by pharmaceutical companies and those who stand to benefit from the sale of vaccines, along with profiting from the sickness they cause as a result of very toxic excipients (ingredients) and adjuvants (accelerants), such as mercury and aluminum, formaldehyde, polysorbate 80, DNA from animals, insects and aborted fetal tissue, among other horrors. Did you know that the MMR has both male and female fetal DNA in it? Wonder where the gender dysphoria comes from, that is so endemic right now? With 54% of children now having a chronic illness, isn’t it time we had a vaxxed vs. unvaxxed study, that the CDC says is “unethical”? Isn’t NOT doing it is completely unethical, when true scientific study calls for double-blind, placebo-based tests?
Vaccine injury, and deaths from vaccines, are very underreported, because of a passive and flawed reporting system that is VAERS. Did you know that doctors are not allowed to put a vaccine as a cause of death? Did you know that SIDS is a vaccine “side effect”? Read those vaccine inserts, and see the Harvard study, whose results were never implemented to improve the system: https://healthit.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/docs/publication/r18hs017045-lazarus-final-report-2011.pdf
From Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County:
Measles-containing vaccines (MMR) work by producing an unapparent or mild, noncontagious infection that results in strong and long-lasting protection against measles infection. Approximately 5% of people who are vaccinated develop a mild rash and fever about 10 days after vaccination (this is less common with the 2nd dose of MMR) that cannot spread to others and does not progress or cause serious complications.
In contrast, measles disease is serious. In the United States before we used measles vaccines routinely, approximately 500,000 cases of measles were reported each year, with approximately 500 deaths, 150,000 cases with respiratory complications, 100,000 cases of middle ear infection, 48,000 hospitalizations, 7000 seizure episodes, and 4000 cases of encephalitis, which left up to one quarter of patients permanently brain damaged or deaf.
More information from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/measles/vaccination.html