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Buncombe County confirms 7th case of measles this year

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Buncombe County has confirmed a new case of measles, health officials announced Thursday. This is now the county’s seventh confirmed case.

What You Need To Know

  •  Buncombe County is reporting a new confirmed case of measles

  •  Health officials say a person visited several places last week while positive

  •  Locations included two Asheville area Goodwill stores, The Inn on Biltmore Estate, a Novant Urgent Care and the MAHEC Family Health Center


A person visited the following locations last week while positive with the disease, health officials said.

  • Novant Health Urgent Care at 349 New Leicester Highway in Asheville on Feb. 4 between noon and 3:45 p.m.
  • MAHEC Family Health Center at 123 Hendersonville Road in Asheville on Feb. 6 between 2:45 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
  • The Inn on Biltmore Estate at 1 Antler Hill Road in Asheville on Feb. 3 between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and again between 2 p.m. and 4:40 p.m.
  • Two Asheville area Goodwill Store locations, including the store at 51 Mills Gap Road on Feb. 3 between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and the location at 86 South Tunnel Road on Feb. 3 between 12:45 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Anyone who visited these locations during the specified dates and times could have been exposed and is asked to contact the N.C. Public Health Outreach Team at 844-628-7223.

Health officials say symptoms could appear up until Feb. 27 and include:

  • High fever (may spike to more than 104 degrees)
  • Cough
  • Runny nose
  • Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
  • Tiny white spots on the inner cheeks, gums and roof of the mouth (Koplik Spots), appearing two to three days after symptoms begin
  • A rash that is red, raised, blotchy; usually starts on face, spreads to trunk, arms and legs three to five days after symptoms begin
  • Measles can also cause complications including diarrhea, pneumonia, encephalitis (swelling of the brain), and suppression of the immune system

Health officials say measles is highly contagious and can live for up to two hours in the air where an infected person was present. “Vaccination and isolation are key to limiting disease spread,” officials said. 

Several exposure incidents have been reported across the Triangle area in North Carolina over the past week, including one confirmed case in Johnston County.

In South Carolina, there have been 933 confirmed cases of measles in an outbreak. That outbreak is centered around Spartanburg County, which sits on the border with North Carolina west of Charlotte.

Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.

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Justin Pryor

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