{"id":491241,"date":"2026-01-04T07:19:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T07:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491241\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T07:19:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T07:19:16","slug":"the-most-contagious-disease-in-the-world-is-spreading-in-us-airports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491241\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Contagious Disease In The World Is Spreading In US Airports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 2020,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.explore.com\/travel\/coronavirus-flying-hotels-travel-safety\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:COVID-19 caused travel restrictions and other changes;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">COVID-19 caused travel restrictions and other changes<\/a> to how people get around. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explore.com\/travel\/avoid-sick-traveling\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Avoiding getting sick while traveling;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Avoiding getting sick while traveling<\/a>\u00a0is tricky, as COVID-19, flu, and common colds easily spread when dozens of people sit shoulder to shoulder inside planes, trains, or buses. However, another disease has added itself to the list. Measles is on the rise, and health officials have detected it in airports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The New Jersey Department of Health sent a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.gov\/health\/news\/2025\/approved\/20251226a.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:press release;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">press release<\/a> stating that it detected measles in a traveler who was at the\u00a0Newark Liberty International Airport on December 12, 2025. The department has undertaken contact tracing efforts in case the passenger infected others. Another case appeared in a passenger who flew to and from Boston Logan International Airport (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.explore.com\/1855227\/oldest-airport-america-us-busiest-country-boston-logan-international-massachusetts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:one of the busiest in the country;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">one of the busiest in the country<\/a>) on December 11 and 12.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The\u00a0Massachusetts Department of Public Health sent a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/news\/state-public-health-officials-alert-residents-about-potential-exposure-to-measles-in-multiple-locations-0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:press release;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">press release<\/a> of its own. The press release emphasized that measles is preventable through vaccines, making the nationwide rise in cases all the more surprising. Per the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/measles\/data-research\/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Centers for Disease Control;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Centers for Disease Control<\/a>, over 2,000 people in the U.S. tested positive for measles in 2025, numbers not seen since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/preview\/mmwrhtml\/00020688.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:1992;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">1992<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explore.com\/travel\/airport-security-secrets-you-need-to-know-gallery\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Airport Security Secrets You Need To Know;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Airport Security Secrets You Need To Know<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Why the measles resurgence is occurring<img alt=\"Man in hazmat suit spraying an empty plane\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/7a72157211eb58a066a51374b2c705da.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Man in hazmat suit spraying an empty plane &#8211; David Silverman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gavi.org\/vaccineswork\/contagion-scale-which-diseases-spread-fastest\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Gavi;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Gavi<\/a>, an organization working to increase medical vaccine access worldwide, explained that measles is the most contagious virus based on how many others just one person can infect, a measurement called R0. Like COVID-19 and the flu, measles spreads through particles in the air after someone carrying the disease coughs or sneezes. Its particles also linger in the air for up to two hours, meaning you can catch measles even without direct contact. After around two centuries of documented measles existence, researchers created a\u00a0vaccine\u00a0in the 1960s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Vaccine skeptics have long existed around the world, but recent years have seen a higher percentage of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children. Gavi attributes this to vaccine misinformation, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and other global crises. Multiple health officials\u00a0have publicly tried to ease people&#8217;s minds by stating that vaccines are safe and effective as long as enough members of a population receive them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Getting measles despite being vaccinated is incredibly uncommon, but all travelers can take solace in the fact that cases are still fairly low nationwide. If you think you might be sick, wearing a mask can prevent you from spreading anything.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Ready to discover more hidden gems and expert travel tips? <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.explore.com\/newsletter-syndicated?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=explore-NL-feed\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Subscribe to our free newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Subscribe to our free newsletter<\/a> for access to the world&#8217;s best-kept travel secrets. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=explore.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:add us as a preferred search source;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">add us as a preferred search source<\/a> on Google.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explore.com\/2066592\/measles-most-contagious-disease-world-spreading-us-airports\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:original article on Explore;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">original article on Explore<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2020,\u00a0COVID-19 caused travel restrictions and other changes to how people get around. Avoiding getting sick while traveling\u00a0is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":491242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[221441,24599,210,221443,221442,140649,221444,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-491241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-boston-logan-international-airport","9":"tag-centers-for-disease-control","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-massachusetts-department-of-public-health","12":"tag-new-jersey-department-of-health","13":"tag-newark-liberty-international-airport","14":"tag-travel-restrictions","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115835618501260319","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}