CVG airport measles announcement linked to patient at Dayton Children’s

There may have been a measles exposure at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky. over a weekend in January, according to Ohio Health Department officials.

It is possible people traveling through CVG could have been exposed to the measles in Terminal A during certain times, according to ODH. Those include:

  • Jan. 27 between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
  • Jan. 29 between 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

ODH said it is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with other state and local health officials, to identify anyone who may have been exposed — including potentially exposed passengers on specific flights.

Measles symptoms usually appear in two stages. In the first stage, most people develop a fever higher than 101 degrees, a runny nose, watery eyes and a cough. Those symptoms can begin 7 to 14 days after being exposed, ODH said.

The second stage of symptoms begins 3-5 days after symptoms start. During this stage, a rash begins to appear on the face, spreading to the rest of the body.

People who contract measles are contagious from four days before that rash appears through four days afterward. The measles virus can live for up to two hours in air where an infected person coughed or sneezed.

It’s considered extremely contagious — up to 90% of unvaccinated people who come into contact with an infected person are likely to contract the illness.

The exposure at CVG announced by ODH on Monday is tied to a Montgomery County child who has become the state’s first measles case.

The Dayton Daily News reports Public Health — Dayton & Montgomery County identified 232 patients at Dayton Children’s who were exposed to the measles patient in the emergency department, plus an unknown number of their family members.

Dayton Children’s also is contacting hospital staff who may have been exposed, said Dan Suffoletto, a spokesperson for public health.

Suffoletto said most people have been vaccinated, which means community members who were exposed would just need to monitor themselves for symptoms for 21 days.

Two doses of the measles vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles if there is exposure to the virus, while one dose is about 93% effective, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dayton Daily News Reporter Cornelius Frolik contributed to this report.

About the Author