The Colorado Department of Public Health (CDPH) and their partners in El Paso and Arapahoe counties have reported three more measles cases linked to exposure at Denver International Airport and on a Turkish Airlines flight, raising the outbreak total to six.
The first patient in the outbreak is an out-of-state resident who traveled on the flight while infectious.
Of the six patients in the cluster, four were on the flight—three Colorado residents and another from out-of-state.
Four counties have reported cases, and most are from Grand Forks and Williams counties.
Also, the Minnesota Department of Health today reported two more measles cases, bringing the state’s total to four for the year.
The number of measles cases linked to exposure at Denver International Airport and on a Turkish Airlines flight has increased to six, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health (CDPH) and their partners in El Paso and Arapahoe counties.
“The three new cases include two unrelated unvaccinated adults from El Paso County who were at the airport around the same time on May 14,” the CDPH said in a statement. The third is a vaccinated adult from Arapahoe County who, on May 13, arrived at the airport aboard a Turkish Airlines flight. An infectious out-of-state resident who boarded the flight is the first patient in the outbreak. Four of the cluster’s six patients—three Colorado residents and one from out of state—were on the flight.
Minnesota, North Dakota, and California have new cases.
A measles infection in an adult who tested positive following international travel, including through a US airport where measles exposure may have occurred, is being investigated by alameda County officials and health officials in Santa Clara County, California, which is in the San Francisco Bay area. Additionally, authorities issued a warning about possible exposure at a coffee shop and two supermarkets.
The state now has 32 confirmed measles cases since early May, with three more confirmed by North Dakota Health and Human Services, including two from Grand Forks County and one from Williams County. Grand Forks and Williams counties have reported the majority of the cases, which come from four counties. All of the cases in the state involved unvaccinated individuals, with the majority (24) occurring in those between the ages of 5 and 19.
Additionally, the Minnesota Department of Health announced two additional measles cases today, bringing the state’s annual total to four. Both, including one adult from Washington County who was exposed while traveling domestically outside of Minnesota on a domestic airline, are from the Twin Cities metro area.
The other is a Dakota County child who was not vaccinated, had no known exposure, and had not left the state in the previous month. According to health officials, this indicates that measles may be spreading unnoticed in the community. The child was contagious on May 24 at the Mall of America theme park, according to the MDH.
