{"id":2525,"date":"2026-06-22T22:07:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T22:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2525"},"modified":"2026-06-22T22:07:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T22:07:48","slug":"utahs-measles-outbreak-is-a-year-old-is-highly-contagious-disease-still-spreading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2525","title":{"rendered":"Utah\u2019s measles outbreak is a year old. Is highly contagious disease still spreading?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><div><div>KEY POINTS<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li>New cases of measles occur weekly despite a decline in numbers.<\/li><li>Measles can linger in the air for hours and infect non-immune individuals.<\/li><li>Severe complications from measles include pneumonia, encephalitis and immune system disruptions.<\/li><\/ul><\/div><p>Utah\u2019s measles outbreak is a year old and while spread has slowed, state public health officials aren\u2019t dropping their guard. While cold weather and the school year are especially powerful in spreading measles, summer brings a lot of congregate activities, from camps to festivals, daycare to sporting events and more.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2523\">Mitt Romney reflects on lessons learned from his father<\/a><\/p><p>That\u2019s the bad news. The good news is that the sheer volume of cases has declined, according to Utah\u2019s state epidemiologist, Dr. Leisha Nolen. But cases are still being confirmed every week, albeit fewer of them.<\/p><p>\u201cMeasles is still causing infections,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s a lot better than where we were two months ago. I am happy we are not in the same uncontrolled situation. Right now it is really something that\u2019s much more limited and much less of a risk to our community. However, I am worried.\u201d<\/p><p>Nolen said if measles circulates in a vulnerable community, case counts could surge back up. And there\u2019s a risk it will whip back up when school starts and when the weather turns cold. \u201cHistorically, measles was more of a cold-weather-type infection, so we might be having this lull in large part because of our weather and when it gets colder we might go back to having more people get sick,\u201d she said.<\/p><p>Sunlight, she adds, is a \u201creally good antiviral, antibacterial agent. It kills things very well. So just being outside is going to help a lot and then you add in the wind there\u201d and it\u2019s helpful.<\/p><p>But it doesn\u2019t mean measles won\u2019t spread in summer, according to Nolen. \u201cSometimes we do get blips of flu. We certainly do get blips of COVID in summer. So certainly there could be blips of measles as well.\u201d<\/p><p>Some states are having more outbreaks right now, so while hot weather seems to be helping Utah, it\u2019s not helping everybody. \u201cI don\u2019t want people to say it\u2019s done, no more worries. We still have reasons for concern,\u201d Nolen said. <\/p><p>She also noted that Utah\u2019s outbreak has been one of the largest and \u201cit\u2019s definitely the longest duration one.\u201d<\/p><p>As of this June 16, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services measles dashboard notes 687 cases since the outbreak began in 2025. That includes 197 in 2025 and 490 so far in 2026. Thirteen of those cases occurred in the three weeks prior to that mid-June update.<\/p><h3>Counting the cases <\/h3><p>Drill down and there are a number of ways to quantify the story of measles in Utah. According to the state\u2019s measles dashboard, which is updated on Tuesdays:<\/p><ul><li>Fifty-four of the people with confirmed measles were ill enough that they required hospitalization. <\/li><li>As for age, 450 of the cases have involved children under 18.<\/li><li>Vaccination status can also be counted, with 591 not vaccinated, 31 with unknown vaccination status and 65 who had been vaccinated with at least one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. Two doses are required to be considered fully vaccinated.<\/li><li>About 9.5% of Utah\u2019s confirmed cases are \u201cbreakthrough\u201d cases, where vaccines didn\u2019t stop the virus. <\/li><li>Cases have been reported in all 13 local health districts, though of those, the most cases have been in Southwest Utah (265), Utah County (114), Central Utah (97), TriCounty (74) and Salt Lake County (62). Weber-Morgan (2) has had the fewest reported measles cases.<\/li><\/ul><h3>Signs of an illness<\/h3><p>Measles is a particularly contagious illness and the virus has staying power, hanging in the air for a couple of hours where, unseen, it can infect someone who happens through. That\u2019s why Utah health officials include recent reported exposures. For instance, the site notes that on June 6, between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., people at Lions Park in Provo might have been exposed and should pay attention to signs of the illness.<\/p><p>Someone who is not immune has as much as a 90% chance of developing measles if exposed to the virus.<\/p><p>One of the measles tricks is the time lag. You can be exposed, but not develop any signs until a week to three weeks later. Eleven to 12 days after exposure is typical. When people know they\u2019re exposed, Utah\u2019s Department of Health and Human Services tell them to \u201cmonitor your health for 21 days\u201d and in that time, avoid spreading it.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2521\">Opinion: Defining the heart of a nation \u2014 patriotism vs. nationalism<\/a><\/p><p>If symptoms develop, folks are cautioned to call ahead before going to a doctor or clinic, as that allows the healthcare venue to prevent exposing others. <\/p><p>The symptoms usually start with a high fever \u2014 101\u00b0F or higher \u2014 with a cough, runny nose, watery eyes and the telltale rash, which typically begins at the hairline and moves down. The rash can last up to a week, but doesn\u2019t usually show up for a few days after the other symptoms have started, so it might not be recognized as measles right away.<\/p><p>That\u2019s problematic, because as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes, someone is contagious from four days before the rash starts to about four days after.<\/p><p>Measles can also cause diarrhea and ear infections. As Deseret News previously reported, there\u2019s a rare but lethal condition that shows up a decade after someone presumably completely recovered from measles. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a degenerative nervous system disease. <\/p><div><div>Related<\/div><div>Will U.S. keep or lose its status as country that \u2018eradicated\u2019 measles?<\/div><\/div><p>The Utah health page on measles notes complications, some very serious: pneumonia, encephalitis, pregnancy problems, seizures, weakening of the immune system that can linger and increased risk of different infections, and even death.<\/p><p>The treatment doesn\u2019t deal with the virus itself, but rather provides comfort care and manages or prevents complications.<\/p><p>There\u2019s also some evidence that measles can wipe out the body\u2019s memory of and immunity to other infections. That\u2019s a side effect of measles called \u201cimmune amnesia\u201d that can raise the risk of being reinfected with something to which one should have antibodies.<\/p><p>According to the American Society for Microbiology, \u201cWithout memory of past infections, the immune system is less able to fight off pathogens. The problem is that sometimes pathogens are responsible for the immune amnesia. Measles virus \u2014 an incredibly contagious virus that is currently spreading in the U.S. and other regions \u2014 can trigger immune amnesia.&#8221;<\/p><p>According to The Associated Press, \u201cInternational health experts will gather in November to determine if the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles elimination status. Canada lost its status last year after ongoing outbreaks.\u201d <\/p><p>Nolen told Deseret News she\u2019s not focused on that worry. \u201cMy goal is to protect Utahns and keep us all healthy.\u201d <\/p><p>The CDC and the World Health organization will decide on the measles-eradication standing \u2014 and they have access to Utah\u2019s data, as well as that of all the states.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2519\">British Prime Minister Starmer resigns, joins string of early exits<\/a><\/p><\/div><div><\/div><div><div><div>Join the Conversation<\/div><\/div><div><\/div><\/div><div><div>Looking for comments?<\/div><div>Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them \u2014 or use the button below for quick access.<\/div><button>VIEW COMMENTS<\/button><\/div><div><div><button>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"18\" height=\"17\" alt=\"close\" class=\"wp-image-783\" src=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/504a71651714d85af663ed15a2e68144.webp\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/button><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How many people in Utah got measles in this outbreak? What causes measles? Is the measles outbreak in Utah over? What are measles symptoms? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-utah"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Utah\u2019s measles outbreak is a year old. 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