Thousands of travelers at major US airport exposed to measles… as historic outbreak rips through the south
Thousands of travelers passing through Philadelphia may have been exposed to measles, health officials warn.
Officials announced that a person with measles was confirmed to have traveled through Philadelphia International Airport’s Terminal E on Thursday, February 12.
The unidentified individual passed through the terminal between 1:35pm and 4:30 pm eastern time, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
No further details were provided about the individual, including their vaccination status.
‘We believe there is no threat to the general public associated with this case of measles,’ Dr Palak Raval-Nelson, health commissioner for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said Monday.
While the risk is low, officials have warned people who have not received both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine can contract the virus up to two hours after someone else who has been infected left the same room or airspace.
Measles is a highly infectious disease characterized by flu-like symptoms such as cough and fever, a distinctive, blotchy rash that starts in the face before spreading down the body and tiny white spots inside the mouth called Koplik spots.
In severe cases, the virus can travel to the lungs and brain, leading to pneumonia, brain swelling, seizures and death.
Philadelphia International Airport is pictured in the above stock image. Health officials announced a traveler with measles passed through Terminal E on February 12
The measles vaccine is 97 percent effective at preventing infection, and the CDC estimates unvaccinated individuals have a 90 percent chance of contracting it if they are exposed.
‘We encourage people who were possibly exposed to take action if they are not protected against measles. Many countries, including travel destinations, are experiencing measles outbreaks, so the risk of travel-related measles cases remains,’ Dr Raval-Nelson said.
He added: ‘In addition, measles cases and outbreaks have continued to increase in the United States, including a very large and ongoing outbreak in South Carolina.’
Philadelphia International Airport handles between 50,000 and 90,000 passengers per day or 31 million each year.
As of February 13, South Carolina, the heart of America’s current measles outbreak, has reported 950 cases, the vast majority of which are in Spartanburg County, since October 2025.
Nationwide data from Johns Hopkins Center for Outbreak Response Innovation shows there have been 842 cases of measles so far in 2026, 605 of which are in South Carolina.
Pennsylvania has reported eight cases of measles so far in 2026, six of which were in Lancaster County, a largely Amish area. In Lancaster County, 88.5 percent of kindergarteners have received both doses of the MMR vaccine, below the CDC’s 95 percent threshold for herd immunity.
The MMR shot is typically given once between ages 12 and 15 months and again between ages four and six.
Measles causes a distinctive rash as pictured in the above stock image. In severe cases, it can also lead to pneumonia and brain swelling
Measles spreads through direct contact with infectious droplets or through the air. Patients with a measles infection are contagious from four days before the rash through four days after the rash appears. Enclosed areas like airports and planes are extremely risky locations for disease transmission.
It first invades the respiratory system, then spreads to the lymph nodes and throughout the body. As a result, the virus can affect the lungs, brain and central nervous system.
While measles sometimes causes milder symptoms, including diarrhea, sore throat and achiness, it leads to pneumonia in roughly six percent of otherwise healthy children, and more often in malnourished children.
Though the brain swelling that measles can trigger is rare, occurring in about one in 1,000 cases, it is deadly in roughly 15 to 20 percent of those who develop it, while about 20 percent are left with permanent neurological damage such as brain damage, deafness or intellectual disability.
Measles also severely damages a child’s immune system, making them susceptible to other potentially devastating bacterial and viral infections they were previously protected against.
Before MMR vaccines became available in the 1960s, measles caused epidemics with up to 2.6 million global deaths every year. By 2023, that number had fallen to roughly 107,000 deaths.
