Officials: Potential measles exposure reported at Newark Liberty Airport

New Jersey state health officials say that there is a possible case of measles exposure at Newark Liberty International Airport.

News 12 Staff

May 24, 2019, 7:46 PM

Updated 1,945 days ago

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New Jersey state health officials say that there is a possible case of measles exposure at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Officials with the New Jersey Department of Health say that a traveler with a confirmed case of the measles arrived at Terminal B from Vienna, Austria on May 8. Anyone who was inside Terminal B between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. was potentially exposed to the disease.
Measles is a highly contagious illness with symptoms that include rash, high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. It can cause serious health complications in people who are not immunized. Symptoms from this latest case of exposure may show up as late as May 29.
Travelers who were on the flight with the infected person will be notified by their local health department.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that cases of the measles are at their highest in the United States in decades. Health officials are urging anyone who has not been vaccinated or has not had the measles previously to get the measles vaccine.
"Two doses of measles vaccine is more than 99 percent effective in preventing measles,” state epidemiologist Dr. Christina Tan said in a statement.
There have been 14 confirmed cases of measles in New Jersey as of May 22, 2019, according to New Jersey health officials. Officials say that 12 of these cases are associated with the 2019 measles outbreak in Ocean County, which was considered to be over as of May 16.