Measles flagged at NC hotel and gas station, health department says
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A person from another state traveled through Asheville while infected with measles, according to the NC Department of Health and Human Services and Buncombe County Health and Human Services.
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Anyone who was present at the Holiday Inn Express located at 435 Smokey Park Hwy. in Asheville on Wednesday, Aug. 26 from 1 -10:30 a.m. or at the Exxon at 1920 Four Seasons Blvd. in Hendersonville on Tuesday, Aug. 25 from 9:30-11:45 a.m. may have been exposed to measles. People present should monitor for symptoms until Wednesday, Sept. 16.
NCDHHS announced the possible exposure at the gas station on Monday, Aug. 31 after originally announcing the possible exposure at the hotel on Sunday, Aug. 30.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), nine out of ten people who come in close contact with someone who is infected will become ill if they are not protected, especially by vaccination.
It can take one to three weeks for symptoms to show. More symptoms may develop after the original onset.
According to the CDC, symptoms include:
Two or three days after symptoms begin, patients may develop small white spots in the mouth, called Koplik spots. Measles rash may come next – flat red spots can spread from the face down. Fevers may spike after onset of the rash.
In North Carolina, 24 measles cases were reported between December and February, The Observer previously reported. An outbreak of nearly 1,000 cases in Spartanburg County, South Carolina was declared over in April.
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Measles can be prevented by the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. Health experts recommend vaccination for everyone over a year old, and infants older than six months who will travel out of the country or to areas with active measles outbreaks. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services offers a measles immunity checker tool.
No additional information will be shared on the contagious individual to protect their privacy, NCDHHS said. The hotel is cooperating with Buncombe County Health and Human Services, according to a press release.
Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. As of Thursday, Aug. 27, more than 2,800 people have been infected in the country in 2026. The cases are the highest seen since the 1990s, when the second dose of the MMR vaccine became standardized. An international panel will meet in November to determine whether the country will maintain its eliminated status after a wave of infections in late 2025 and 2026.
Earlier this month, Pennsylvania Gov. Joshua Shapiro said two measles deaths in Pennsylvania were caused in part by rhetoric spread by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leading to a public political battle between the men.
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