Buckingham County measles outbreak grows; new case at Dulles Airport

The measles outbreak in Buckingham County is up to 106 cases, growing by 23 over the past week, and now we have a confirmed case of measles that traveled through Washington Dulles International Airport via an out-of-state international traveler on Wednesday.

Damn anti-vaxxers.

Buckingham County is big geographically – 582 square miles; for comparison, Augusta County, the state’s second-biggest county, in terms of its geography, is 971 square miles – but Buckingham is also quite sparsely populated.

Buckingham had 16,828 residents as of the most recent Census estimate – 28.9 people per square mile.

Augusta had 77,487 residents as of the most recent Census update – 79.8 people per square mile.

So, 106 measles cases in Buckingham feels like a lot – again, for comparison, this would be like us having just shy of 500 here in our home base.

Or how about running the numbers relative to Fairfax County – population: 1.16 million.

Brace yourself.

Try 7,000 measles cases, based on population.

Don’t underestimate the spread, is what I’m getting at.

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ICYMI

• Virginia Department of Health reports measles case in Buckingham County
• VDH confirms measles outbreak in Buckingham County: Vaccine skepticism is contributing factor
• Virginia Department of Health launches measles dashboard in wake of outbreak
• VDH: Beware Amish auction in Buckingham County amid measles outbreak

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This case at Dulles is scary, in that sense.

The Virginia Department of Health says it is coordinating an effort to identify people who might have been exposed, including contacting potentially exposed passengers on specific flights.

These are the dates, times, and location of the potential exposure site in Virginia:

• Dulles International Airport (IAD): Concourse C, on transportation to the International Arrivals Building (IAB), and in the baggage claim area between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 17.

Any additional exposure sites identified in Virginia will be posted to the VDH Measles website.

Additional exposure sites have been identified in Washington, D.C., and Maryland.