Maryland health officials have identified a positive case of measles in a state resident who recently traveled internationally. The state's Department of Health said in a release Sunday that the resident lives in Howard County, located southeast of Baltimore. The case is not associated with measles outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico, officials said.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that can spread through the air when a person breathes, coughs or sneezes. It is preventable through a safe and effective vaccine – the MMR shot that provides immunity to measles, mumps and rubella – and health officials said in 2000 that the virus had been eliminated in the United States.