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Measles exposure — Holiday Inn Express, Asheville NC, Aug 26 2026

If you were inside the Holiday Inn Express on Smokey Park Highway between 1:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday 26 August, this page is about you. It does not matter why you were there.

If you were there that day but outside those hours, this page has no deadline for you. Every date below is counted from that window. The one exception is the couple of hours right after it ends — measles lingers in the air — so if you were inside between 10:30 a.m. and about half past twelve, call 828-250-5109 and give them the time.

Today is day 64 since then.

Every date in this notice has passed.
Already past: The MMR shot — Only if you had no record of protection and were born in 1957 or later (2026-08-29); The antibody shot — Only if you had no record of protection and were born in 1957 or later (2026-09-01); Staying home from work — Only if you have no written record of protection and were born in 1957 or later — or your immune system is badly weakened, whatever your record says and whenever you were born (2026-09-16); Watching for symptoms — Everyone who was there, including you (2026-09-16); Watching, if you had the antibody shot — Only if you had the antibody shot (2026-09-23).

Which side of 1957 are you on? Born in 1957 or later means 69 or younger — and at exactly 69, only if your birthday this year has already been. Anyone 70 or older, and anyone who is 69 whose birthday this year has not come round yet, was born before 1957 — which North Carolina counts as evidence of immunity on its own, with no records at all. If that is you, none of the shots and no time off above is yours — and the watching those dates asked for ended on 16 September, so there is nothing left from this notice to do. The row that is yours → One thing overrides that: if something is badly damping your immune system — chemotherapy, a transplant, steroids, a drug for arthritis or bowel disease — then the time off is still yours, whatever your record says and whenever you were born. That row is here →

If you are only reading this now: you have been going about your days since Wednesday 26 August, and that is the normal way this page gets found. Say that on the phone — how many days it has been, and that you have been at work. It changes what they ask you, and nothing here is a reason not to call.

If staying home means losing pay, or you have no insurance, say so when you call 828-250-5109. It changes what they can offer you, and this page cannot do it for you.

Go straight to your case: No record of protection Baby under 6 months Baby 6–11 months Pregnant Weakened immune system One MMR dose on paper Two doses, or born before 1957

Which of these applies to you depends on your vaccination history — find your row →

Every treatment window from this notice has closed.

📞 Call 828-250-5109 — Buncombe County Communicable Disease, the line for this exposureIf your shift clashes with those hours, call before it starts or on your break; if that is not possible, call from work — that call is part of what your employer needs. Ask for an interpreter if you need one.Worried they will ask you for papers? What this page knows, and what it does not →

Skip to “find your row” Skip to the phone number If you work in health care or a nursing home

Computed for 2026-10-29. Clock runs from 2026-08-26.

Why you can trust these dates — check one yourself in a minute

Nobody here is a doctor and this is not a government site. Every date below is arithmetic on two numbers you can look up yourself:

The exposure date and window, taken word-for-word from the health department’s notice.
The number of days, taken word-for-word from that department’s own clinical guidance.

The two numbers are: MMR must be given within 72 hours (3 days), and immune globulin within six days of exposure. Add those to 26 August: 26 + 3 = 29 August, 26 + 6 = 1 September. Both are linked and quoted in full at the foot of this page, each with the version date of the document it came from, and each saying which figure here it is the arithmetic for. Check it yourself. If your answer differs from ours, the document is right and we are wrong — work from it and call the number below.

Are you affected?

If you were inside the building for any part of that window, you are included — the official notice says “anyone who was at” the hotel, and names “patrons and staff” alike. It does not matter whether you were a guest, working a shift of any kind, or just there for breakfast.
Where: Holiday Inn Express, 435 Smokey Park Highway, Asheville NC.
Inside the building. Not the car park, not the forecourt, not a doorway you never walked through. If you waited outside, or someone brought something out to you, you are not an exposed contact and there is nothing here for you to do. If you cannot remember whether you stepped inside — treat it as though you did, use the rows below, and say exactly that when you call: “I think I may have gone in for a few minutes.” That is a normal thing to be unsure about, and the county line is used to it.
Not sure it was this hotel? There is more than one chain hotel on Smokey Park Highway. This notice is only about the Holiday Inn Express at 435 Smokey Park Highway. If you are not certain which one you were at, call 828-250-5109 with the date and roughly the time — they can tell you whether the place you describe is the one. This page cannot.
When: Wednesday, August 26, 2026, any time between 1:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Overlapping part of that window is enough — you did not have to be there the whole time.
If you were inside the building on 26 August but outside those hours, the notice does not name you — there is no deadline on this page counted from your visit. Every date here is counted from that window, so if you walked in during the afternoon there is nothing here for you to do.
The one time this page cannot answer is the couple of hours just after 10:30 a.m. Measles “can live for up to two hours in the air where the infected person was present” — and nothing published says whether the 10:30 a.m. end already allows for that. If you were inside between 10:30 a.m. and about half past twelve, call 828-250-5109 and give them the time you were there. That is the one question here that only the health department can settle.

Your deadlines

Every window in this notice, its last day, and whether it is still open today
Window — and who it is for	Last day	Status today
The MMR shot, given now to stop an infection starting Anyone with no record of protection — but only within 72 hours	2026-08-29	closed — that date has passed
Antibody shot (doctors call it immune globulin, or IG) Infants, pregnancy, a weakened immune system, and anyone with no record of protection — who were in the building. If they were not there, this date is not theirs.	2026-09-01	closed — that date has passed
Staying home (quarantine) — if you had no record of protection and did not get MMR in time, or if you are severely immunocompromised whatever your record says A weakened immune system puts you here whenever you were born — 1957 does not take you out of it. Not a deadline to act by — it is the last day at home. The first day back is 17 September. Give your employer or your child's daycare both dates, in those words.	2026-09-16	over — that date has passed
Watching for symptoms Everyone who was there	2026-09-16	over — that date has passed
Watching for symptoms, if you had the antibody shot Only if you got the antibody shot	2026-09-23	over — that date has passed

Every date on this page is a North Carolina date, counted from 26 August there. If your phone is set to another time zone, the status column can run a day early or a day late. “Closed” here is not the last word — if you think you are still inside the window, call 828-250-5109 and ask.

If you work in health care, a nursing home, child care or a school, the rows below are not your answer. The standard you are held to is stricter than the general-public one. What yours asks for, and the two questions to ask →

Find your row

Every row below is for someone who was inside the hotel during that window. If your child, your grandchild or anyone else at home was not there, they are not an exposed contact and there is nothing for them to do today — the rows about infants are for infants who were in the building. What to do about the people you live with →

If you work in a hotel, in cleaning, in a kitchen or a restaurant, there is no separate rule for you — use the rows below — but tell your employer anyway, because your return-to-work date comes out of that row.

If you work in health care, a nursing home, child care or a school, read the section just above this table first.

“I don’t know whether I was vaccinated” belongs in this table, not outside it. A dose given before your first birthday does not count. NC counts, as evidence of immunity, written documentation of “one or more doses of a measles-containing vaccine administered on or after the first birthday for preschool-age children and adults not at high risk” — on or after, not before. If your card shows one dose and you were still under a year old, you belong in the not known to be protected row, not the one-dose row — that difference is the whole answer. NC defines a susceptible contact as “a person over 1 year of age without documentation of at least one MMR or other evidence of immunity” — no records counts as no documentation — with one exception, and it is worth knowing before you read any further: NC counts birth before 1957 as evidence of immunity by itself, anyone who is 70 or older now, and also anyone who is 69 whose birthday this year has not come round yet. The birth certificate is the test, not the age. Someone telling you that you were vaccinated is not documentation. NC’s guidance to providers is explicit: “Do not accept verbal reports of vaccination without written documentation.” If a parent remembers a shot but there is no record, you are in the not known to be protected row until a record or a blood test says otherwise. Ask on 828-250-5109 whether a blood test would settle it faster than waiting. NC’s guidance does not put antibody testing in the contact-management pathway, so this page is not going to tell you it will work — it is a question for the line, not a plan. Losing your childhood records does not mean you are protected, and it does not mean you are not: the NCDHHS immunity checker linked below can tell you. If more than one row fits you, the more specific one wins — pregnancy, being a baby, and a weakened immune system each override the general row, and birth before 1957 takes you out of it altogether. Documented immunity changes only the pregnancy one: if you have what the last row names, that row is yours and the pregnancy row is not. It does not change the immunosuppression row. NC’s table gives IVIG to the severely immunocompromised “Regardless of immune status”, and says immune globulin “is not indicated for people who have received one dose of measles-containing vaccine at 12 months or older unless they are severely immunocompromised” — so if that row is yours, it stays yours whatever your record says.

If anything damps your immune system — chemotherapy, a transplant, a drug for arthritis or bowel disease, steroids
Short answer: call 828-250-5109 with the name of the drug and the date you were there, whatever your vaccination record says. Open this for what the state actually lists, and why two doses do not settle it.

If anything damps your immune system — or you are looking after someone whose does. Two different questions get confused here, and the difference decides whether you make a phone call.

One: are you in the row below headed “severely immunocompromised”? That row is NC’s narrowest group, the one its table gives IVIG to “Regardless of immune status” with no assessment needed. NC introduces the list with “Immunocompromising conditions may include people” — may include, not “consists of” — and it names: “With severe primary immunodeficiency”; “Who have received a hematopoietic cell transplant until at least 12 months after finishing all immunosuppressive treatment, or longer in patients who have developed graft-versus-host disease”; “On treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) until at least six months after completion of immunosuppressive chemotherapy”; “Within two months after solid organ transplantation”; “Who are 12 months post immunosuppressive treatment who have received a bone marrow transplant, or longer in patients who have developed graft-versus-host disease”; and people “living with HIV with severe immunosuppression with a CD4 T-lymphocyte count < 200 cells/mm3 (age > 5 years) and percentage < 15 (all ages), and those who have not received MMR vaccine since receiving effective antiretroviral therapy” — note that last clause: it is a separate group, and it does not depend on a CD4 count at all. The list does not end there and NC says so: “Other severely immunocompromising conditions can be found in the Red Book Measles chapter”, and “The degree of altered immunocompetence in a patient should be determined by a physician.” So not seeing your own situation on that list is not the same as being off it. This page cannot tell you whether you are in that row.

Two: should immune globulin be considered for you at all? That is a wider question with a wider answer, and NC puts it plainly on its page for clinicians: “IG is recommended for people at high risk of complications”, and the group it names alongside infants and pregnancy is “People who have compromised immune systems, regardless of vaccination status”. Regardless of vaccination status — so two documented doses do not settle this one. Chemotherapy, a transplant, a TNF blocker, methotrexate, steroids: any of them puts the question on the table even if the narrow row turns out not to be yours.

And ask about time off, not only about the shot. NC pairs that narrow row with “Quarantine for 21 days” in both columns, “Regardless of immune status” — so if a physician does put you in it, two documented doses do not make the 21 days go away.

Either way the action is the same and it is one phone call: 828-250-5109, with the drug or the diagnosis and the date you were in the building. Nothing on this page should be read as a reason not to make it.

Your situation, and what the official guidance says to do about it
Your situation	What the official guidance says to do
Over 1 year old and not known to be protected — including if you simply do not have your records. Unless you were born before 1957: on its own, with no records at all, that counts as evidence of immunity — anyone who is 70 or older now, and also anyone who is 69 whose birthday this year has not come round yet. If that is you, your row is the last one in this table and nothing below is yours. (If you are pregnant, use the pregnancy row instead — it is the row that names pregnancy.)	No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-01: what it said Ask about an antibody shot on 2026-09-01 — it is the only window still open. It is not automatic: NC says a clinician can consider giving it, so the call decides it and not this page. No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-16: what it said Whether or not you got that shot, do not go to work: stay home for 21 days from exposure — through September 16, back at work on 17 September. Those are the two dates an employer or a daycare will ask for — give them both. No job to stay away from? The days still apply, and what they mean is here → If you live with a baby, someone pregnant, anyone over 65 or anyone immunocompromised, there is a call to make for them too — whatever this row says about you. What to say to your employer, word for word → Whatever is still open, the county arranges it, not you — call 828-250-5109. Ask what applies to you as of today, and say the date you were in the building. If you do get the shot, it changes when you can have MMR. NC says to “Wait six months after IMIG administration before vaccinating with MMR/varicella (MMRV)” — eight months if it went into a vein instead of a muscle (a clinic calls those IVIG and IMIG) — and “Do not administer MMR vaccine and IG at the same time.” Write the date down and tell whoever gives you MMR later. The 72-hour MMR window has closed. MMR afterwards is worth asking about for future protection — NC’s guidance says to give it “if no contraindications” — that is, if there is no medical reason you cannot have it — and pregnancy is one of those reasons, so ask rather than assume. The words the person giving it will be reading NC’s wording for the shot is “Can consider giving IMIG” below 66 lb, and above that “consider giving IVIG: 400mg/kg”. IMIG is an injection in the muscle; IVIG is a drip into a vein. Nothing here is a dose for you to ask for by name — it is what the person giving it will be reading.
Infant under 6 months who was in the building	No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-01: what it said ~~Ask on 2026-09-01 about an antibody shot in the muscle.~~ No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-16: what it said Whether or not you got that shot, stay home 21 days from exposure — through September 16, back on 17 September. What to say to your employer, word for word → Those are the date a daycare or child care will ask for. If the shot is given, write that date down — it changes when MMR can follow. After IMIG, NC says to “Wait six months after IMIG administration before vaccinating with MMR/varicella (MMRV)”, and “Do not administer MMR vaccine and IG at the same time.” Immune globulin is arranged through the county, not by you — call 828-250-5109 and say who it is for. This is the group that line most wants to hear from, whether or not a window here is still open. It is not given to everyone who asks: NC lists contraindications — “Do not give IG to people with immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency”, “Do not give IMIG to persons with severe thrombocytopenia or any coagulating disorder that would contraindicate intramuscular injections”, and “Do not give IG to persons with a history of anaphylactic reaction to a previous dose of IG”. Say on the phone if any of those apply. The words the person giving it will be reading The shot in the muscle is the one NC writes as “Can consider giving IMIG” — immune globulin, given at 0.5 mL/kg up to 15 mL. That is the dose the person giving it works out; it is not something to ask for by name.
Infant 6–11 months who was in the building	No longer applies — that day was 2026-08-29: what it said Within 72 hours, MMR is the recommended one for this age — NC’s own table says “MMR vaccine recommended” for infants 6 through 11 months, and “No quarantine needed if MMR received”. No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-16: what it said Whether or not you got that shot, stay home 21 days from exposure — through September 16, back on 17 September. What to say to your employer, word for word → Those are the date a daycare or child care will ask for. No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-01: what it said After 72 hours and up to day six, an antibody shot in the muscle instead. NC gives it to “infants age 6-11 months who do not receive MMR within 72 hours of exposure”. A dose at 6–11 months does not replace the childhood series. NC says infants who get the MMR vaccine at that age “should be revaccinated with two additional doses after their first birthday”. And MMR and IG are never given together — after IMIG, NC says to “Wait six months after IMIG administration before vaccinating with MMR/varicella (MMRV)”. Neither of those changes with any date on this page. Immune globulin and MMR are both arranged through the county, not by you — call 828-250-5109 and say the age in months. Infants are the group that line most wants to hear from, whether or not a window here is still open. The words the person giving it will be reading The shot in the muscle is the one NC writes as “Can consider giving IMIG” — immune globulin, given at 0.5 mL/kg up to 15 mL. That is the dose the person giving it works out; it is not something to ask for by name.
Pregnant and who was at the hotel — not known to be protected — including if you simply do not have your records. If the pregnant person was not in the building, this row is not theirs — what applies to someone at home is here →. This row wins over the general “not known to be protected” row at the top of this table.	No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-01: what it said An antibody drip into a vein — the last day for it is 2026-09-01. No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-16: what it said Whether or not you got that shot, do not go to work: stay home for 21 days from exposure — through September 16, back at work on 17 September. Those are the two dates your employer will ask for — give them both. No job to stay away from? The days still apply, and what they mean is here → What to say to your employer, word for word → Not MMR: it is a live vaccine and is not given in pregnancy — that is a medical reason not to give it, not a deadline you can miss. Ask about it after the pregnancy instead. This does not expire, and no date on this page changes it. If you do get the drip, “after the pregnancy” is not the same as “before you go home”. NC’s guidance says to “Wait eight months after IVIG before vaccinating with MMR or MMRV”, — IVIG is the drip, the one into a vein; the shot into the muscle is IMIG, and after that one the wait is six months — and “Do not administer MMR vaccine and IG at the same time.” Say the date of the drip to whoever gives you the MMR later — a dose given inside those eight months does not take, and nothing afterwards tells you it did not. Whatever is still open, the county arranges it, not you — call 828-250-5109. Ask what applies to you as of today, and whether being a day or two past a date changes the answer. Tell whoever is looking after the pregnancy — your obstetrician, midwife or clinic — the date and the place, whether or not any window on this page is still open. That call is worth making today either way. The words the person giving it will be reading The drip into a vein is the one NC writes as “consider giving IVIG: 400mg/kg” — immune globulin, given into a vein rather than a muscle. That is the dose the person giving it works out; it is not something to ask for by name.
Severely immunocompromised — something is badly damping your immune system (whatever your vaccination record says and whenever you were born — being born before 1957 does not take you out of this row)	No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-01: what it said ~~Ask on 2026-09-01 about an antibody drip into a vein.~~ No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-16: what it said Whether or not you got that shot, stay home 21 days from exposure — through September 16, back on 17 September. Those are the two dates your employer will ask for — give them both. No job to stay away from? The days still apply, and what they mean is here → What to say to your employer, word for word → Whether this row is yours is not something to decide by reading the title. What NC means by severely, and the wider group it says to consider immune globulin for either way, is set out just above this table — read it before you decide this row is not you. MMR is not the route for someone severely immunocompromised: it is a live vaccine — that is a medical reason not to give it, not a deadline you can miss. If the drip is given, write that date down — it is the IVIG date that matters later, not an MMR one. After IVIG, NC says to “Wait eight months after IVIG before vaccinating with MMR or MMRV”, and “Do not administer MMR vaccine and IG at the same time.” Immune globulin is arranged through the county, not by you — call 828-250-5109 and say who it is for. This is the group that line most wants to hear from, whether or not a window here is still open. The words the person giving it will be reading The drip into a vein is the one NC writes as “consider giving IVIG: 400mg/kg” — immune globulin, given into a vein rather than a muscle. That is the dose the person giving it works out; it is not something to ask for by name.
One documented MMR dose at 12 months or later — or one documented dose and you are not sure how old you were. A dose someone remembers is not a documented dose: with nothing written down you belong in the row for people not known to be protected, whatever anyone recalls.	No antibody shot (the one doctors call IG), and no time off — for the general public. If you work in health care, a nursing home, child care or a school, one dose is not the standard that applies to you: NC asks for two documented doses for “adults at high risk, including college students, health care workers and international travelers”, so do not read this row as clearance — see that section. And if anything damps your immune system, one dose settles even less: NC considers immune globulin for people with compromised immune systems “regardless of vaccination status” — see what to ask. And it is not only the shot: NC gives that row “Quarantine for 21 days” in both columns, “Regardless of immune status” — so it can change your time off too. No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-16: what it said ~~Watch for symptoms through September 16.~~ What NC actually says about a single dose is this: “One dose of MMR vaccine, or other presumptive immunity, is sufficient for most U.S. adults born in or after 1957.” So for most adults, one documented dose is the answer, and this row is the end of it. The exception NC names is people it counts as high risk — its stricter standard of two documented doses applies to “school-age children and adults at high risk, including college students, health care workers and international travelers”. If you are in one of those groups, ask about a second dose or a blood test that measures whether you are already immune (a titer). MMR is a live vaccine and is not given in pregnancy — a medical reason not to give it, which no date on this page changes, so if you are or might be pregnant, ask about the blood test rather than the dose. If your record does not say how old you were, that is a reason to ask, not a reason to assume. If you have no doctor and no insurance, ask on 828-250-5109 — that line knows where a second dose or a titer can be done.
Two MMR doses, lab evidence of immunity, or born before 1957	If you are here because you were born before 1957, check the arithmetic before you trust this row: anyone who is 70 or older now, and also anyone who is 69 whose birthday this year has not come round yet. A birthday that has already been this year puts you the other side of it, and this row is not yours — yours is the one for people with no record of protection. And if something is badly damping your immune system — chemotherapy, a transplant, steroids, a drug for arthritis or bowel disease — this row is not yours either, whenever you were born: that one is here. Considered protected — there is nothing you need to do today. That includes if you are pregnant: documented immunity is documented immunity, and the pregnancy row is for people without it. No shot, no time off. Three things can still change that, and each is one tap: your immune system, where you work, who you live with. Two exceptions to that, and both are above this table. If anything damps your immune system — chemotherapy, a transplant, a TNF blocker, methotrexate, steroids — NC says immune globulin is considered for people with compromised immune systems “regardless of vaccination status”, so two documented doses do not close that question: see what to ask. And it is not only about the shot. NC gives that row “Quarantine for 21 days” in both of its columns, under a heading that reads “Regardless of immune status” — so it may change your time off as well, and “no time off” above is the general-public answer, not yours. And if you work in health care, a nursing home, child care or a school, the standard that applies to you is stricter than this row: see that section. No longer applies — that day was 2026-09-16: what it said ~~Out of caution, watch for symptoms through September 16 (the list is below), and if any appear, call before going anywhere.~~

If you work in health care, a nursing home, child care or a school

The rows under “Which of these applies to you?” are the general-public answer. Yours is stricter — and it is settled by your employer’s occupational health, not by this page. NC lists two different standards for presumptive evidence of immunity, and the stricter one is yours — in plain terms, what counts as proof that you are already immune is stricter for you — and the health department asks which of the two you fall under when it traces contacts.

What the stricter criterion actually asks for is two documented doses. NC lists, as presumptive evidence of immunity, written documentation of “two doses of a measles-containing vaccine, administered at least 28 days apart, for school-age children and adults at high risk, including college students, health care workers and international travelers”. If that is what your record shows, that is the criterion met — say exactly that when you call. It is the one fact that decides whether you have a work restriction, and it is not one this page can decide for you.

Ask these two questions, in these words: “I have two documented doses at least 28 days apart — do I have a work restriction for this exposure?” and “If I develop symptoms, when may I come back?” Tell your employer or occupational health, and call 828-250-5109 before your next shift — before, not after.

If you develop any of the symptoms listed below, do not go in. Not to your shift, not into the building. The official notice says to stay home and to “Call ahead before visiting the doctor or emergency room”; for you it also means telling occupational health before your shift rather than turning up and being sent home. The people you work around are the reason your rule is different — and they are the reason this one matters more than the rest of this page.

What to watch for, until 2026-09-16

Symptoms usually begin 7–14 days after exposure, but can appear up to 21 days after — which is why the watch period ends on September 16.

High fever (may spike to more than 104°F)
Cough
Runny nose
Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
Tiny white spots on the inner cheeks, gums and roof of the mouth (Koplik spots), two to three days after symptoms begin
A red, raised, blotchy rash — usually starts on the face and spreads to trunk, arms and legs, three to five days after symptoms begin

Contact your local health department right away and stay at home unless you are seeking medical care. Call ahead before going to a doctor or emergency room so they can take steps to keep you from exposing others in the waiting room.

Who to call

828-250-5109 — Buncombe County Communicable Disease (the county where the exposure happened)
This page does not know this line’s opening hours — the county’s own page gives the number and nothing else, so we are not going to tell you it is answered at three in the morning. It is the office handling this exposure — start here even if you live in another state. If English is not your language, ask for an interpreter — the county puts it plainly: “Interpreter Services Available Free of Charge”. Do not hang up if someone answers in English; name your language and wait. Where this came from
828-694-6019 — Henderson County Communicable Disease — only if you were at the Exxon in Hendersonville, not the hotel
The other place in the same notice is in another county, and this number is that county’s. Calling the Asheville line about a Hendersonville visit sends you to the wrong health department. Henderson County publishes its own hours as “Hours of Operation M - F, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.”; this page does not know whether the line is answered outside them. Your dates are also a day earlier than everything on this page — count from 25 August. Henderson County Public Health — where this number comes from
Check whether you count as protected — even if you think you know
NCDHHS’s own quiz, three minutes, nothing recorded. Worth running even if you are sure: it is where people with no records find out that missing paperwork counts as no evidence of immunity, which you would not guess from your own memory. Read this before you open it if you are pregnant, or might be: the quiz never asks. For someone with no records it ends by telling you to ask a provider about vaccination — and MMR is a live vaccine that is not given in pregnancy. Run it anyway, because knowing you have no evidence of immunity is what the county line needs to hear; but take its last screen to 828-250-5109 and to whoever is looking after the pregnancy, not to a walk-in vaccination clinic. What they can do while you are pregnant is a blood test — a blood test for measles antibodies (a clinic may call it a titer) — which settles whether you were already immune without giving you anything live. Open the NCDHHS immunity checker
Your own local health department, if you live outside Buncombe County
The official notice says to “contact your local health department right away” — for out-of-state guests that means the department where you live, not North Carolina's. Search your county or state name plus “health department communicable disease”, and tell them the date, the place, and your vaccination status. Where this came from
1-800-662-7030 — NCDHHS statewide line
The general number given in the official notice. Where this came from
919-733-3419 — NC Epidemiologist On-Call
This is the line NCDHHS gives clinicians deciding what to give someone after an exposure. It is not a public helpline — the number is here so the doctor or emergency department you reach can use it. It is the one number on this page with published hours: NC tells clinicians “Call the state Communicable Disease Branch at 919-733-3419 (available 24/7)”. If you cannot reach the county and it is the middle of the night, that is the line your clinician should be calling.

Things this notice does not spell out

What the 21 days actually mean, if you have no job to stay away from. The days are about being around other people, not about work — so they apply the same whether you are employed, retired, at home with children or between jobs, and the row above says “work” only because that is the date an employer asks for. Care you already need is the named exception. The notice this page is built on tells people to “stay at home unless seeking medical care”. So an infusion, a dialysis chair, a dental abscess or anything else you would have gone to anyway is not something to cancel — call the clinic before you go and tell them you are in a measles quarantine window, because they will want to bring you in another way or another door, and that is a call they take every day. Call 828-250-5109 as well and say what the appointment is — they are the ones who can say what this county expects of you on or before September 16. What this page will not do is invent the rest. Whether you can collect a prescription in person, go to a shop at a quiet hour, or sit with a grandchild is not written in anything we can quote, and a page that guessed at it would be guessing about your family. Ask those on the same call — and if you live with someone frail, the card for that is here.

What they will and will not ask you. The most common reason people in this position do not call is not the money — it is not knowing whether they will be asked for papers. This page cannot promise you what any one person on the phone will ask. What it can tell you is what Buncombe County publishes about itself: its own Notice of Privacy Practices covers the department this number belongs to — “Buncombe County is a designated HIPAA Hybrid Entity and this notice applies only to the protected health information created or obtained by the health care programs of Buncombe County Health and Human Services” — and it is in Spanish and Russian as well as English. The privacy notice is about what the county does with a medical record — not about what someone asks you when they pick up the phone. On that, this page has nothing to cite, so it will not tell you either way. What it can say is that the notice this page is built on asks people to do one thing: “contact your local health department right away” if symptoms start. If anyone asks you for something you do not want to give, you can say so and still ask your question.

Staying home and watching for symptoms are two different clocks. Staying home (quarantine) is 21 days from exposure, ending September 16 — and that is the date your employer needs. Watching for symptoms is the same 21 days, or 28 days (ending September 23) if you received IG, because IG can delay the illness. IG lengthens the watch, not the time off.

If cost or having no insurance is what is stopping you, say so when you call. North Carolina expanded a state program that pays for vaccines (317/VFA) in January 2026 so that “adults who have partial insurance coverage or are required to make out of pocket payments toward the MMR vaccine will be eligible for a 317 VFA MMR vaccine” — and if you have no insurance at all, you are covered by that program too, not left out of it — but that is the MMR vaccine, and this page is not telling you IG is covered on the same terms. IG is a blood product, usually given at a hospital, and what it costs you depends on where you go. The county communicable-disease line is the right place to ask both questions — where you can get it today, and what it will cost you.

If you have no insurance and you start feeling ill. The cost note above is about preventing measles; this is the other half. Do not go to an emergency room to find out — call 828-250-5109 first. Telling them you are uninsured is part of the question, not an obstacle to it: they know which clinics in the county see people without coverage and charge on a sliding scale, and they can arrange testing without you walking into a waiting room. Ask outright what the shot would cost you and where it is cheapest — this page does not know the price and will not invent one, but that call can tell you before you leave the house. Whatever you do, call before you go anywhere — that instruction is in the official notice and it exists to stop you infecting a room full of people.

If you are away from home, on the road, or traveling next week. Nothing in this notice grounds you unless your row says to stay home. But two things change when you are not in one place: “call your local health department” means whichever one you can reach today, not necessarily North Carolina’s — and if you are unsure, 828-250-5109 is the office that knows this exposure, wherever you are calling from. And “stay at home” means stop traveling and stay put — if symptoms start while you are away, do not drive on, do not board anything, call before you move. Measles spreads through the air of a room for two hours after the person has left it.

If staying home for 21 days means 21 days without pay, say so when you call 828-250-5109. The health department is what tells you to stay home, and it can put that in writing for your employer — this site cannot. Ask them what support exists in the county. Whether you get paid is not ours to decide; what we can say is that saying nothing does not help.

Telling your employer — the words, not the theory. The guidance gives a number of days, not a doctor’s note: staying home is 21 days from exposure. Call 828-250-5109 first — the script says you have already asked them what they can put in writing, and that should be true when you say it. If their hours and your shift do not overlap, call before your shift starts or on your break; if that is not possible, call from work: the health department is what is telling you to stay home, and that call is part of what your employer needs. Then read this out as it stands: “I was in a building the health department has named for a measles exposure. They are telling people in my situation to stay off work for 21 days from that date — in my case that ran through 16 September, and 17 September was my first day back. I am not sick. This is not a doctor’s note and I am not asking you to take my word for it: the county health department at 828-250-5109 is who is telling me this, and I have asked them what they can put in writing for you. I want to work. Tell me what you need from them and I will ask them for it.” Do not soften the date and do not offer to come in sooner — the date is the health department’s, not yours, and it is the only part of this that protects you. This site cannot issue documentation, and nothing here is a medical clearance to return to work. The rule this date comes from, and a form of words for a boss who wants it in writing → Back to the list of cases →

¿Su jefe lee español? El mismo texto, en español →

If you work for yourself, there is no employer to tell and no sick pay to claim. The note above about a letter for your employer is not for you — what is, is this: say on 828-250-5109 that you are self-employed and that staying home means no income. The health department is the body that tells you to stay home, it knows what support exists in the county, and it is the only place that can put the dates in writing for a client who needs to know why you cancelled. This page cannot write that letter, and nothing on it is clearance to work.

The same notice covers a second place, and it has its own page. It names the Exxon at 1920 Four Seasons Blvd. in Hendersonville, Tuesday 25 August, 9:30–11:45 a.m. — a different day, a different town, a different county health department and one day earlier, so every deadline for it falls a day before the ones on this page, and its watch period ends on September 15. If that is where you were, do not use the dates on this page and do not use the number on this page — the Hendersonville page has its own dates and its own county number, counted from 25 August.

If you have to say this to someone else — a patient, a client, a relative who was in there too. The card above covers the people who were not. This is for the ones who were, and it is meant to be read out as it stands: “You were in the hotel on 26 August. First, before anything else: is anything damping your immune system — chemotherapy, a transplant, a drug for arthritis or bowel disease, steroids? If so, call 828-250-5109 today, say the drug and the date you were in that building, and ask about time off as well as the shot — that changes the answer even if you have both MMR doses on record. If none of that applies and you have two documented doses of MMR, you count as protected: no shot, no time off — the watching this notice asked for ran to 16 September and is over — if nothing appeared by then, there is nothing left to watch for from that day. If you cannot find a record, call 828-250-5109 today — and, like me, the 21 days ran to 16 September and are behind us — there is no time off left to take from this, and if nothing appeared by then that part is done. The six-day window for the antibody shot closed on 1 September, so this is now about watching rather than treating — but they should still hear from you, and so should I.” Do not change the two dates in it — they are counted from 26 August and do not move. What to check instead is whether they have already gone past: the banner at the top of this page says which day the page was built for.

The people who depend on you and were never in the building — staff, clients, family. One sentence covers all of them, and it is the one to forward: “Anyone who was not inside that building is not an exposed contact and has nothing to do today. That changes only if I develop symptoms, and I will tell you if I do.” You do not have to stand anyone down, cancel anyone’s shift, or tell six people to lose three weeks of pay. If you employ people, the row you are in is yours alone — it is not theirs. If you do develop symptoms, that is the moment to call 828-250-5109 first and ask who needs telling and in what order, before you start calling: the people you were in a car or a small room with may need different advice from the rest.

The people you visit — not only the people you live with. NC says measles spreads “from four days before through four days after the rash appears”, so “I feel fine” is not the same as “I cannot pass it on”, and the card about the people you live with, further down, does not answer this. If you are due to see someone frail on or before September 16 — someone over 65, a baby, someone pregnant, someone on chemotherapy or other drugs that damp down the immune system — and your own row does not say you are considered protected, call 828-250-5109 before you go, not after you start feeling unwell. If your row does say you are protected and you have no symptoms, you do not have to call before every visit — that would be unworkable for anyone whose job is seeing such people all day, and it is not what this is asking. Watch for the symptoms below through September 16, and if any appear, do not go, and call before you do anything else. They may already be covered: NC counts birth before 1957 as evidence of immunity, and so are two documented doses. Doing that arithmetic for you: anyone born in 1956 or earlier was born before 1957, which means anyone who is 70 or older now, and also anyone who is 69 whose birthday this year has not come round yet. If you are not sure which side of it they fall, the year on the birth certificate is the test, not the age. If you do not know which, that is another thing to ask on that number.

The people you live with. Someone who was not in the building is not an exposed contact and has nothing to do today — that includes a baby, whatever the infant rows above say. It changes only if you develop symptoms; then the people around you become contacts. If you live with someone pregnant, a baby, anyone over 65, or anyone immunocompromised — on chemotherapy, on drugs that damp down the immune system (biologics), after a transplant — call 828-250-5109 whether or not your own row tells you to stay home. The same people count here as count when you visit them: living with someone frail is not less than seeing them. The table above is about your risk; this call is about theirs, and it matters most if your row says no time off, because you are the one going out and coming back. A baby under 12 months is too young for the MMR vaccine, and it is a live vaccine those household members often cannot have either — so “have them checked” may not lead anywhere on its own. The county line can say what protects them instead.

This site currently covers only the notices listed on its front page. If your hotel, date, or product is not listed here, that means we have not published a page for it — not that you were not affected. Check the notice issued by the health department where it happened.

Sources

NC DPH — Measles Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for Non-Symptomatic Susceptible Contacts — version 3/2026
Supports the MMR and immune-globulin deadlines on this page: the exposure date plus 3 days, and plus 6 days.
MMR must be given within 72 hours of exposure to measles and IG must be given within six days of exposure.
Buncombe County — Notice of Privacy Practices — version effective May 2019, retrieved 2026-09-01
Supports what the county whose line this page prints publishes about what it does with a medical record.
Buncombe County is a designated HIPAA Hybrid Entity and this notice applies only to the protected health information created or obtained by the health care programs of Buncombe County Health and Human Services
Henderson County Department of Public Health — Notice of Privacy to Our Clients — version retrieved 2026-09-01
Supports the only thing this page says about what the county does with what you tell it.
the Henderson County Department of Public Health implemented the Federal Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule
Henderson County Department of Public Health — Communicable Disease — version retrieved 2026-08-31
Supports the only thing this page says about when the Henderson County line is answered.
Hours of Operation M - F, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
NC DPH — Measles (Rubeola) — version retrieved 2026-08-31
Supports why feeling well is not the same as not being infectious.
People with measles can spread it to others from four days before through four days after the rash appears.
Buncombe County — Communicable Disease — version retrieved 2026-08-31
Supports the promise that the county line has an interpreter at no cost.
Interpreter Services Available Free of Charge
NC DPH — Measles (Rubeola) Resources for Health Care Providers — version retrieved 2026-08-31
Supports what the stricter criterion for health care and nursing-home workers actually asks for.
Two doses of a measles-containing vaccine, administered at least 28 days apart, for school-age children and adults at high risk, including college students, health care workers and international travelers
NCDHHS — Measles guidance and vaccine coverage (317/VFA expansion) — version 2026-01-23
Supports what the cost note says about the MMR vaccine — and does not say about IG.
adults who have partial insurance coverage or are required to make out of pocket payments toward the MMR vaccine will be eligible for a 317 VFA MMR vaccine
NCDHHS — Measles Exposure in Buncombe and Henderson Counties (English and Spanish / español) — version 2026-08-30
Supports the exposure date and time window every date on this page is counted from.
Anyone who was at the Exxon, 1920 Four Seasons Blvd. in Hendersonville on Aug. 25 from 9:30-11:45 a.m. or the Holiday Inn Express, 435 Smokey Park Highway in Asheville on Aug. 26 from 1 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. may have been exposed to measles and should monitor for symptoms until September 15 and 16, 2026, respectively.

This is not medical advice and this is not an official government site. Every date and rule on this page is computed from, and quoted out of, the official documents named and quoted at the foot of this page. If you are unsure, call the number listed rather than relying on this page.

📞 Call 828-250-5109Say the date you were there, and what your records show — or that you cannot find them. What they ask you →