Key points
- Measles is highly contagious.
- Measles can live for up to 2 hours in an airspace after an infected person leaves an area.
- Call your doctor immediately if you think you or your child have been exposed.
Common ways it spreads
Contact with an infected person
Measles is a highly contagious virus that lives in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person. It can spread to others through coughing and sneezing.
Contact with air droplets
If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected.
Only humans spread measles
Measles is only spread from person to person. Animals do not get nor spread measles.
When you are contagious
If you have measles, up to 90% of the people close to you, who are not immune, will also become infected.
An infected person can spread measles to others even before knowing they have the disease. You can spread measles to others from 4 days before through 4 days after the rash appears.