Traveler exposed people to measles in Denver, Steamboat Springs
An out-of-state traveler exposed people to measles at Denver’s Union Station and a Steamboat Springs hotel earlier this week, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said Friday.
The traveler, who was unvaccinated, visited Union Station on Tuesday evening. The traveler visited the La Quinta Inn in Steamboat on Wednesday morning. CDPHE said it may announce more exposure locations as it confirms them.
For an updated list of all places and times when people may have been exposed to measles recently in Colorado, visit the CDPHE website. People who believe they may have been exposed and develop symptoms of measles — fever, cough, runny nose or red eyes, followed by the telltale rash — should call their doctor or local public health agency. When possible, try to call ahead to the clinic or hospital before seeking emergency medical care for a suspected measles infection.
The infected traveler is at least the second in two weeks to visit the state. An international visitor attended the Denver Gem and Mineral Show last week in Westminster and also stopped at locations in Boulder and Lafayette.
The exposures come as the United States is dealing with resurgent measles outbreaks in multiple states, most notably in Pennsylvania, where authorities have reported 745 confirmed cases so far this year — though the actual number is likely much higher.
Colorado has thus far avoided a late-summer surge. The state has reported two cases in Colorado residents since May, and 25 cases total year-to-date. Of those, 22 were unvaccinated, while two were vaccinated with one dose of the MMR vaccine. One person’s vaccination status was unknown.
The state recorded 36 confirmed measles cases in all of last year, which was the second-most in a single year since the state began tracking case counts in 1993.
Following the introduction of safe and effective vaccines, measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, though ongoing outbreaks mean the country will likely lose that elimination status this fall. Rising anti-vaccination beliefs, in part spread by now-U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have contributed to a decline in immunization rates, which make communities more vulnerable to sustained outbreaks of the disease. Though Kennedy has at times expressed support for the measles vaccine, he told a group of anti-vaccine activists this week, “You have a strong and steadfast friend at the White House.”
Colorado has long struggled with vaccination rates for its youngest students, and the measles vaccination rate for kindergarteners remains among the lowest in the country.
