The facility near Grand Central Mall in Vienna that includes the Mid-Ohio Valley Medical Group, Bond’s Drug, Mountain State Dermatology and WVU Medicine operations including Infectious Disease, Primary Care, Outpatient Rehabilitation Services and Pediatric Subspecialty and Telemedicine Clinic was reportedly closed on Wednesday due to a possible measles exposure. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

VIENNA – A local medical office closed on Wednesday due to a possible measles exposure.

A post on the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department Facebook page Thursday morning said the Mid-Ohio Valley Medical Group “notified their patients that they would be closed as they assessed a potential measles case in their building.”

The facility near Grand Central Mall in Vienna includes the Mid-Ohio Valley Medical Group, Bond’s Drug, Mountain State Dermatology and WVU Medicine operations including Infectious Disease, Primary Care, Outpatient Rehabilitation Services and Pediatric Subspecialty and Telemedicine Clinic. A post from Bond’s Drug Wednesday evening said they would reopen as normal on Thursday.

A statement from WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center Thursday afternoon said test results were still pending.

“Yesterday, a patient arriving at one of our primary care locations for a previously scheduled appointment presented with possible symptoms of measles,” it said. “In an abundance of caution, the clinic was thoroughly disinfected, and the patient has been isolated while test results are pending. There is no confirmed case of measles at this time.”

The facility was open as usual on Thursday, a hospital representative said.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says measles is very contagious and can be a serious illness.

While some may think of measles as just a little rash and fever that will clear up in a few days, it can cause serious health complications, especially in children younger than 5 years old, according to the CDC. If one person has it, up to nine out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not protected.

According to the CDC, symptoms appear seven to 14 days after contact with the virus and can include:

* High fever that may spike to more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit

* Cough

* Runny nose (coryza)

* Red, watery eyes; conjunctivitis (pink eye)

* Rash

It says complications, especially in children under 5, include ear infections and diarrhea; and serious complications include pneumonia and encephalitis.

The CDC says measles is very contagious and can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. A person can get measles just by being in a room where a person with measles has been for up to two hours after that person has left.

The CDC suggests two doses of the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) by doctors as the best way to protect against those diseases. It says the MMR and MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella) vaccines usually protect people for life against measles and rubella; but immunity against mumps may decrease over time. It also said two doses of the MMR vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles, and one dose is about 93% effective.

The CDC reports there have been 27 outbreaks, defined as three or more related cases, reported in 2025, and 88% of confirmed cases (1,130 of 1,288) are outbreak-associated. For comparison, it says 16 outbreaks were reported during 2024 and 69% of cases (198 of 285) were outbreak-associated.

Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department Public Information Officer Amy Phelps said anyone concerned they may have been exposed to measles should speak to their health care provider about testing.

The Associated Press reports that a recent study found childhood vaccination rates against measles fell after the COVID-19 pandemic in nearly 80% of the more than 2,000 U.S. counties with available data, including in states that are battling outbreaks this year. Meanwhile, CDC data showed that only 92.7% of kindergarteners in the U.S. had the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in the 2023-24 school year, below the 95% needed to prevent outbreaks.

Staff reporter Douglass Huxley contributed to this story.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.