By Jonathan Mummolo and Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, March 15, 2008

A Northern Virginia toddler caught measles on a family trip to India, and health officials are trying to find people in this area who might have been exposed to her.

Health officials said the girl's case is the first reported in Virginia since 2001. Measles can be serious, but a vaccine has almost eliminated the illness in this country, authorities said. They said 37 cases were reported in the United States in 2004, compared with hundreds of thousands a year before the vaccine.

Fairfax County officials were told March 7 of the 15-month-old's case and have identified 600 people possibly exposed, said Mike Andrews, a county health department spokesman. No new cases have been found, and the girl, no longer contagious, is doing well, he said.

He said the girl had visited the Capital Area Pediatrics clinic and the Harris Teeter grocery in Herndon and Inova Fairfax Hospital's emergency room. He said she apparently lives in another county.

Measles symptoms include fever of more than 101 degrees, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis and a persistent rash that proceeds down the body. Authorities said the incubation period is from seven to 18 days, usually 14. Those who have had measles, were born before 1957 or have been vaccinated are considered to be immune.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.