Outbreak fears at Dulles International Airport as passenger with world's most infectious disease triggers alert
Health officials have warned of a potential measles outbreak at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
A passenger arriving on an international flight tested positive for the highly contagious respiratory illness, which is currently ripping through the US.
Travelers who were at Washington Dulles airport, which serves the Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland region, on June 8 have been warned they could be at high risk of the virus.
The infected traveler passed through Concourse A, took transportation to the International Arrivals Building (IAB), and transited through the baggage claim area between 10:30am and 1pm.
In addition, they ventured into Washington DC area on the same day, taking the Silver Line train from Dulles International Airport station to the Red Line, heading towards Shady Grove station between 11:30am and 2:30pm.
Travelers who fear they may have crossed paths with the patient at Washington Dulles and in Washington DC's transit system have been advised to confirm if they have been vaccinated against measles.
To date in 2025, Virginia has three reported cases of measles, with another one of these cases also linked to a traveler at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Experts warn the US is currently vulnerable to measles outbreaks because of falling vaccination rates.
However, the new case comes as Texas is battling a measles outbreak that has infected nearly 800 people and killed two children.
At this time, 744 cases have been confirmed in the Lone Star state since late January.
Ninety-six of the patients have been hospitalized and there have been two fatalities in unvaccinated school-aged children who lived in the outbreak area.
Overall, in the US there have been 1,168 confirmed measles cases reported by 34 states and at least three deaths.
Measles is the world's most contagious disease - infecting nine out of 10 people exposed - but those who are fully vaccinated are protected in 97 percent of cases.
The illness causes tiny white spots inside the mouth, flat red spots on the neck, torso, arms, legs, and feet, ear infections and a high fever.
If severe, it can lead to life-threatening pneumonia.
Children need two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine: the first at age 12-15 months, and the second dose at age 4-6 years.
Babies ages 6-11 months should get an early dose if traveling internationally. Adults should also check to see if they are immune to measles.
About one to three in 1,000 people with measles dies of the illness.
In an updated advisory, the CDC is warning that people can get infected with measles during travel or at crowded events, unless they are fully vaccinated or have had the disease.
The notice reads: 'Travelers can catch measles in many travel settings, including travel hubs like airports and train stations, on public transportation like airplanes and trains, at tourist attractions, and at large, crowded events.
'Infected travelers can bring the disease back to their home communities where it can spread rapidly among people who are not immune.'
The government agency recommends that all travelers be fully vaccinated against measles before traveling to an international destination.
The last time measles was this rife in the US was in 2019, when there were 1,274 cases reported for the entire year.
Measles was officially eradicated in the US in 2000 amid a successful vaccination campaign.
At the time, the CDC described achieving measles elimination status in the US as a 'historic public health achievement'.
However, a recent study found uptake of the vaccine among children declined in eight in 10 US counties last year, which is being signaled as the cause of the measles resurgence.
Overall, vaccine rates fell three percent across the country.
It means that 91 percent of children are vaccinated against measles, which is below the 95 percent needed to prevent the disease from spreading and causing deaths.
The Johns Hopkins University researchers warned that if vaccination rates continue to fall, measles is likely to return and become a common infection among Americans.
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Times
2 hours ago
- Times
This pervasive dining trend is set to wreck my summer holiday
I've just spent three marvellous days in Greece — sun, sea and some great friends, with whom I relished sharing precious downtime. I did not enjoy sharing my taramasalata. Each mealtime our group of six gather would around the same table — either at the hotel where we were staying or in local restaurants. As friends travelling together, of course we did. It was with a sinking heart, however, that I quickly realised we were to share our meals too, thanks to the pervasive — and frankly unwelcome — trend for 'sharing plates'. My joy at perusing each mealtime menu was tempered by the near certainty that my choice would not just be for me, but for all of us. A choice, no doubt, that my dining companions would instantly find more alluring than theirs, and which would fast disappear before my eyes, leaving me to dip into a selection of confusing and dissatisfying alternative mismatched 'bites'. 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And puddings, well, I'll rarely have more than a spoonful anyway and it's often off my husband's plate. But main courses? If Iberico pork was meant to be eaten with vegetable biryani, it would come as a menu suggestion, not as carelessly deposited spoonfuls of incongruous flavours rattling around my dinner plate. Even worse, is the expectation that diners share elbow room with complete strangers along trestle tables, now common in even the most traditional of tavernas. It's all very lovely in theory. Meals out, whether on holiday or not, are often a celebratory, convivial affair. Why not share the love — and your food — with other people? Psychologists point to communal eating as a way to connect and to support mental health — the 2025 World Happiness Report ranks shared meals as one of the greatest factors in wellbeing, on a par with income and employment status. 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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Addicts slumped in doorways, discarded needles and more dealers, life beside SNP's drugs consumption room
Slumped in a doorway surrounded by drugs paraphernalia an addict lies collapsed in a drug-induced haze. Yards away are grassy areas littered with drugs 'debris' – hypodermic needles and heroin pipes. Just around the corner, and, sadly with more than a hint of irony, sits the SNP 's £2.3million 'harm reduction' centre that was opened to stop this very thing happening. When he visited with great fanfare in January John Swinney proclaimed Britain's first safer drugs consumption room as a 'significant step forward' in tackling Scotland's appalling record of harm and deaths caused by drugs. Yet, residents and businesses talk of a 'living hell' and are now threatening to quit the area as they are met with daily scenes of drug addicts injecting in the street, discarded needles strewn around their neighbourhood and drug dealing. The facility in question is The Thistle, officially referred to as a 'safer drugs consumption room'. 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'My kids found it and said: 'Dad we've just found something bad that looks like blood in the yard.' They're nine and six.' Footage filmed inside the car park shows an addict brazenly perched against a car, as he prepares to inject himself in the open despite being less than 200 yards from the taxpayer-funded facility designed for that very purpose. The locals who encounter, challenge and talk to some of the addicts who engage in this behaviour say there are numerous reasons why they are still taking drugs in the open. Some have said they will not go to the centre as they distrust the authorities, while others say they need to get their fix immediately after buying drugs, without having to walk to Hunter Street where The Thistle is based. Linda Watson, 68, is a community activist, who was raised in the area. She said: 'A lot of users are not using the actual facility. They are coming here simply because they know there's a supply here. We're just being used as guinea pigs, we're part of a big experiment and there's no-one here to support us. The drug littering has been diabolical, some hit spots ended up with a total carpet of paraphernalia and syringes.' 'I love where I live, we were all brought up here, but people just don't feel safe anymore. People are publicly injecting themselves, they don't even try to hide it.' She added: 'A few weeks ago there was someone sitting in the play park when kids are cutting through to get to school, with his trousers down blatantly shooting up.' The impact of is making it harder for some businesses to operate. Janet Rogers, 55, started working in Bobbi D's salon on nearby Gallowgate in 1989 and worked her way up till she eventually took it over. She said: 'A lot of older people come to me because my business has been going for so long. But a lot of them don't want to come out now because they're scared. They're getting intimidated by dealers and users – there's loads of them just hanging about, lurking. 'They're getting in the closes beside the shop. I've seen plenty of shooting up, they leave needles and tin foil lying about outside the shop, it's terrible.' Ms Rogers fears she will have to close up as a result of the issues she is facing. She added: 'This shop has been my whole life and I just feel totally burnt out with it all, it's just soul-destroying.' The idea behind The Thistle is that by allowing addicts to inject their own drugs under medical supervision, the number of people suffering an overdose can be reduced as well as the number of discarded needles. However, in light of our investigation, the Scottish Conservatives have called for the SNP administration to end its 'reckless experiment'. MSP Annie Wells, who acts as the party's drugs spokeswoman, said: 'The SNP's flagship drug consumption room is making life a misery for local residents and businesses. 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'However, to suggest crime and drug use are new problems in this community is a blatant denial of decades of challenges this community has faced. 'The Thistle is not the cause of these issues — it is part of the solution. In fact, the Thistle has undoubtedly saved lives that would have otherwise been lost thanks to the intervention of staff.' The Scottish Government said it recognises people's concerns and that its partners 'are addressing them through outreach work, ongoing needle uplift operations, and plans to expand public needle disposal bins'. It also said 'a comprehensive independent evaluation' will examine the service's impact and that research and evaluation from similar facilities around the world has shown such facilities 'can reduce levels of public drug consumption and publicly discarded drug-related litter'.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
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