Someone with an infectious case of measles traveled through Maryland last week, the state health department said Sunday in a health advisory, citing places where others could have been exposed.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease, spread easily through coughing, sneezing and even breathing.
The infectious person rode the Amtrak Northeast Regional Train from Philadelphia to Washington on Wednesday from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. The person also rode the Amtrak shuttle between Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport and the train station between 10:45 p.m. Wednesday and 1:30 a.m. Thursday.
In addition the person was placed at the BWI Airport parking shuttle to and from the airport’s long-term parking lots sometime between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 2 a.m. Thursday.
People who have been vaccinated for measles or are otherwise immune are “generally considered protected,” the health department said.
It advised people who lack presumed immunity and might have been exposed to call their health care provider or their local health department to discuss how they should proceed.
Early symptoms of measles are a fever of more than 101 degrees Fahrenheit, runny nose, cough and red, watery eyes. Usually, one to four days after the early symptoms, a red rash appears on the face and spreads to the rest of the body.
Measles cases occur sporadically in Maryland. There have been no cases of measles in 2026, three cases identified in 2025, one in 2024, one in 2023, and no cases from 2020-2022.
Maryland said exposures occurred in other states as well. Information on those exposures “will be provided by those states,” the Maryland health department said.
Those states were not identified. Someone with measles was in North Carolina and south and central Virginia while contagious from Dec. 5 through Dec. 10, officials there have previously said.
Based on information about the duration and the onset of the infectious phase, it appeared unlikely that the person was the same one referred to Sunday by the Maryland officials.
According to the Maryland Department of Health, the infectious phase generally lasts eight days: four before symptoms appear, and four after.
Jenna Portnoy contributed to this report.
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