Measles have been confirmed in Montgomery County in two unvaccinated children who arrived in the United States on Aug. 24, according to Montgomery County health officials.

Health officials are asking individuals who on Monday visited the Suburban Washington Resettlement Center or the office building in which the center is located to be aware they may have been exposed to measles.

The children visited the resettlement center, located at 8700 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, on Monday before they showed the onset of measles, but at a time in which the virus could be spread.

The Montgomery County Health Department and the resettlement center have contacted all individuals that visited the center that day, but released a public notice of the event Friday to alert anyone who may have crossed paths with the children in the office building on Georgia Avenue, county spokeswoman Mary Anderson said. She could not confirm how many people had visited the center Monday.

Danielle Solick, a community outreach and advocacy coordinator for the center, said all incoming clients are required to receive a health exam from the county health department. The children’s virus was detected during that examination, she said.

Measles is highly contagious and spread through the air. Residents are not at risk for contracting measles if they have previously had the illness, have received two doses of the measles vaccine or were born in the U.S. before 1957, according to the county health department. The measles vaccine has been required to attend school since 1957 and for citizenship application. Those born before 1957 have likely been exposed to the disease.

The illness' symptoms come in two stages: first, with a fever higher than 101 degrees, a runny nose, watery eyes and cough; and second, between the third and seventh day, a rash begins to appear on the face and spreads over the entire body.

Anderson said the county health department was notified the children were ill Tuesday and received confirmation that they had measles Thursday.

The last confirmed case of measles in Montgomery County occurred in 2009, when an unvaccinated adult contracted the virus overseas and spread the illness while in the emergency room at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Anderson said. Four cases were reported in that incident.

Anyone who thinks they may have been exposed to measles should contact their doctor's office of the county health department's division of disease control, at 240-777-1755.