March for Life Attendees Warned of Measles Exposure

Washington's annual anti-abortion march is getting an unwelcome footnote: a possible link to the nation's growing measles problem, the Hill reports. DC health officials say several people with confirmed measles infections moved through a string of locations in the city while contagious, including the Jan. 23 March for Life on the National Mall, which drew thousands. Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson were among the attendees, USA Today reports. Potential exposure sites also include the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Jan. 21; parts of Catholic University's campus on Jan. 24 and 25; Reagan National Airport and multiple Metro trains on Jan. 26 and 27; and the Amtrak concourse at Union Station on Jan. 27. Children's National Hospital says a Virginia resident with measles spent about 30 minutes in its emergency department on Feb. 2.

Officials urge anyone who may have been exposed and isn't immune to contact a health provider, DC Health at 844-493-2652, or their local health department, and to monitor for symptoms—runny nose, red eyes, cough, and a rash that starts on the head and spreads downward—for 21 days after possible exposure. Anyone who develops symptoms should immediately isolate at home, the agencies say.

The alert comes as measles spreads nationally. The CDC has logged 733 cases so far this year, with about 3% leading to hospitalization, after reporting 2,276 cases last year—the highest since measles was declared eliminated in the US around 2000. The country has now seen 12 straight months of transmission, a key marker for potentially losing that elimination status. The World Health Organization's Pan American Health Organization has asked the US to meet in April and review its measles elimination status; the Trump administration formally withdrew from WHO last month, NPR reports. The CDC recommends two doses of the MMR vaccine, noting that 95% of this year's US cases are in unvaccinated people. On CNN Sunday, Medicare and Medicaid chief Dr. Mehmet Oz pressed viewers to get the vaccine.