Health officials in the Washington, DC, area reported the sixth and seventh confirmed measles cases Tuesday. The first case was discovered in Virginia while there are six other sites, including Iowa and Pennsylvania, where people might have been exposed to this contagious disease.

The measles patient in Washington is a man who not been vaccinated against measles and had contracted the virus during a 3-week trip to India. He had visited some sites in Maryland, Virginia, and the nation's capital on Apr 4 and 5, which prompted authorities in all of the jurisdictions to send out public heath alerts appealing to those who think they might have been exposed to call in to emergency numbers.

The Virginia Department of Health announced that a Prince William County resident has measles, the first confirmed case of measles this year. However, according to the officials, this case is not linked to the six other infections in D. C. and Maryland.

Measles is a highly contagious disease. It is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. This is a highly contagious virus that is transmitted in respiratory secretions, and can be passed from person to person via aerosol droplets containing virus particles, such as those produced by a coughing patient.

Its initial symptoms include rash, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes, which can last about a week. Though almost all Americans have been vaccinated against it, some cases of infection still crop up. The most affected are migrants and children 1-year-old and younger.