Health Officials Confirm Fifth Measles Diagnosis In Pikesville Area

Maryland health officials confirmed a fifth case of measles this week.

Officials said Friday there are no known public exposure locations associated with this case. They did not say how the person contracted the disease, but said the person lives in one of the three Pikesville-area zip codes where the other four diagnosed this year reside.

Possible symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and rash. While death from measles is rare, around 30% of reported measles cases have one or more complications, including diarrhea, pneumonia, encephalitis and brain damage, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If you think you may be symptomatic, call your health provider ahead of time so they can take precautions to evaluate you, if needed, without putting others at risk.



The measles virus can live for up to two hours in an airspace where an infected person coughed or sneezed. A person with measles is contagious from four days before the onset of a rash until four days after rashes appear to form.

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers are generally required to cover vaccines for various preventable illnesses, including measles.