Officials: Three More Measles Cases Linked to International Flight at Denver Airport

Health officials in Colorado said there have been three additional measles cases following a Turkish Airlines flight that landed in Denver on May 13.

The Colorado Department of Public Health said a third passenger on the flight was confirmed positive for the illness, 9 News reported on Sunday.

However, the outlet said the adult patient, who lives in Arapahoe County, is vaccinated and recovering at home.

The news comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its website on Friday to show that as of Thursday there are have been 1,088 confirmed cases of the measles reported by officials in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

The 9 News article continued:

Two unvaccinated adults in El Paso County also have measles, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the El Paso County Public Health said in a release on Sunday. Those people were not on the flight, but were at the Denver International Airport around the same time on May 14. They are not related.

This brings the total number of cases associated with an out-of-state traveler who flew while infectious to six — four passengers on the flight, which includes three Colorado residents and one out-of-state resident, and the two El Paso County residents who were at the airport during the exposure period, according to the release.

Colorado health officials said the best way to protect yourself and others from the highly contagious illness was to get the vaccine.

In February, the first U.S. measles death since 2015 occurred in West Texas, and the victim was a school-aged child who was not vaccinated, Breitbart News reported.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in March expressed “deep concern” over the outbreak in Texas. He also said parents should talk with their doctors regarding options when it came to the vaccine for their children, according to Breitbart News.

During an interview with NBC News, Kennedy said his agency recommended people take the vaccine to prevent the disease but there are people who have refused it on religious grounds:

However, he emphasized, “We need to take care of that population too. We need to have treatments for measles.”

“No child should die of measles in this day and age,” he added.