Sick passenger may have spread measles at Sea-Tac Airport

M. ALEXANDER OTTO | The News Tribune • Published April 08, 2008

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A women who flew into Sea-Tac Airport on March 26 had an active case of the measles, a potentially serious disease, and might have spread it to fellow passengers or others at the airport before departing for Portland, the King County Health Department announced today.

The woman flew in from the Netherlands on Northwest Flight 33, arriving at 3:25 p.m. She departed for Portland on Horizon Airlines Flight 2243 at 5 p.m.

The health department said people on those flights, as well as people who were in the S and C concourses, and especially gate 2J in the C concourse, between 3:25 p.m. and 7 p.m. might have been exposed.

The Health Department warned people who might have come into contact with the woman to be alert for the symptoms of the measles and to get to a doctor immediately if they appear.

It’s also alerted a handful of passengers who sat next to or near the woman, and is looking for others, according to spokesman Matias Valenzuela.

One of the people who were on the plane from Amsterdam was from Pierce County, said Joby Winans, spokeswoman for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

No other information on that person was immediately available.

The health department at this point is not aware of anyone who caught the measles from the woman.

Measles symptoms begin seven to 21 days after exposure.

Measles starts with a runny nose, watery red eyes, cough, and high fever.

In the first few days, tiny, white spots appear in the mouth. After two to four days, a raised, red rash starts on the face and spreads down the body and out to the arms and legs. The rash usually lasts four to seven days and appears about 14 days after exposure.

The rash appeared on the woman March 28. She left Portland for Amsterdam March 29 on Northwest Airlines Flight 92.

Her measles diagnosis was confirmed by blood test in the Netherlands on April 4.

Untreated, measles can lead to ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia and inflammation of the brain which can lead to convulsions, deafness, or mental retardation. Rarely, it causes death.

Measles can also cause miscarriages or premature delivery in pregnant women.

The disease is caused by a virus found in droplets and secretions from the nose and throat of a person with measles and contaminate objects that others may touch.

Measles virus can also be spread through breathing the air where an infected person has been for up to two hours after the infected person was present.

Most persons born before 1957 had the disease in childhood, and younger persons are routinely vaccinated against measles, both of which provide protection against the disease, according to the health department.

The state health department receives one to 38 reports of measles infections per year. The last measles-associated death occurred in 1990.