Afraid you may have been exposed to measles? Washington’s Department of Health is launching an online tracker showing locations where people with the disease visited.
Washington has seen 11 confirmed measles cases this year, almost all of which were tied to international travel, according to the health department. Five were children under 5 years old. One more was an older child, and the other five were adults. The most recent infection was confirmed in late August, in a Spokane County infant linked to a case in Idaho.
Washington this year hasn’t had a measles outbreak, defined as three or more related cases.
But on Oct. 13, an unvaccinated visitor from Arizona who had measles traveled through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the only location listed on the new state map launched this week. Travelers who were at the airport between 11:30 a.m. and 2:40 p.m. that day should watch for symptoms until Nov. 3. The incubation period for measles is 21 days.
Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes and a rash beginning on the face before spreading down the body. The highly contagious disease spreads through the air. Most people recover within 10 days without long-term medical issues. But it can be serious or deadly, especially for young children.
Other parts of the country have been seen measles cases surge this year, with the nation reaching a more than three-decade high of nearly 1,600 nationwide, as of last week. In 2024, there were just 285 reported cases.
More than half of the infections this year have been in Texas, but a new outbreak in Utah and Arizona has grown to more than 100 cases. South Carolina also has seen cases rise. The outbreaks have been tied to declining childhood immunization rates.
Nationwide, one in eight cases this year has resulted in hospitalization. There’ve also been three deaths, the first in years in the United States.
Statewide in Washington, about 91% of kindergarten-age children were vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella in the 2024-25 school year, according to state data. That was down from over 94% in the 2019-20 school year. The counties with the lowest immunization rates were Pacific, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Clallam and Jefferson.
In 2019, Washington had 86 confirmed measles cases, largely in Clark County, where vaccination rates lagged behind the state average.
“Information and vaccination are our strongest tools for preventing measles and keeping our communities safe,” said Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, the state’s health officer.
Across the country, vaccination rates have dropped since the pandemic. Since taking over as health secretary in the Trump administration, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has deemphasized vaccines as a tool to stave off measles.
During Washington’s outbreak in 2019, Kennedy came to Olympia to advocate against legislation that would have made it harder for parents to opt their children out of the measles, mumps and rubella shot.
The Department of Health hopes the new map will help local health departments by gathering exposure details all in one place.
This story was originally published in the Washington State Standard.
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