Maryland confirms first measles case of 2025 as outbreaks in Texas, New Mexico expand
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Paramyxovirus measles virus. (Image credit: Centers for Disease Control (CDC) / Dr Erskine Palmer. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
March 10 (UPI) -- Health officials in Maryland have confirmed the state's first measles case for the year amid expanding outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico.
The Maryland Department of Health said in a statement Sunday that a Howard County resident with recent international travel history has tested positive for the highly contagious disease.
It is warning anyone who visited Terminal A of Washington Dulles International Airport between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center Pediatric Emergency Department between 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday that they may have been exposed to the virus.
"Out of an abundance of caution, health officials are coordinating an effort to identify people who might have been exposed, including contacting potentially exposed passengers on specific flights," the department said.
The identity of the patient as well as the country they had visited was not revealed to the public. The vaccination status of the patient was also withheld.
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Health officials stated that the case is not connected to an outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico were the disease has killed at least two people and sicked around 230 others.
At least 198 cases have been reported in West Texas, state health officials said on Friday. Meanwhile, New Mexico health officials on Friday said they have confirmed 30 cases, up from 10 reported a day prior.
Including Maryland, New Mexico and Texas, measles has been confirmed this year in at least 13 jurisdictions. Cases have also been confirmed in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York City, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Measles remains rare in New Mexico, where one case was reported in each of the last two years following zero cases confirmed from 2020 to 2022.
The disease was officially eliminated from the United States in 2000. A few cases have been detected in the following years among those with contacts abroad. The new outbreaks are associated with those who are unvaccinated.
Last year, a total of 285 cases reported in 33 jurisdictions, the CDC said.
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