4 WA measles cases leave health officials racing to quell outbreak
The Seattle Times • • general
Key Points:
- Washington state is experiencing its first measles outbreak since 2023, with four confirmed cases in Snohomish and Kittitas counties linked to exposure from an unvaccinated family visiting from South Carolina, where a large outbreak is ongoing.
- The infected individuals include three unvaccinated children aged 23 months to 9 years in Snohomish County and an unvaccinated college student at Central Washington University; all are recovering at home.
- Public health officials are conducting extensive contact tracing and verifying vaccination records, having contacted over 200 people in the last 24 hours, and have temporarily closed two schools attended by the infected children to prevent further spread.
- Measles is highly contagious and can remain airborne for up to two hours after
