Utah has spent the past year battling measles outbreaks — a grim milestone that could affect whether the United States can keep designation without measles.
More than 680 people have fallen ill since the state’s first outbreak began on June 20, 2025.
Unlike measles outbreaks in TEXAS, South Carolina and Arizona, the Utah outbreak has been difficult to contain in one region — infecting undervaccinated communities in nearly every county.
Measles appeared in health care settings, big-box stores and restaurants, and youth sporting events. In February, an exposure at a state high school wrestling championship resulted in at least 46 cases among those in attendance.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine. It causes skin rash, high fever, strong cough, ear infections and diarrhea.
While most recover, some – including new babies, pregnant women and those with weak immune systems – are at higher risk of developing dangerous complications such as pneumonia, brain swelling, blindness or even death. Even healthy people can develop problems years later, including a rare but fatal degenerative brain disease that appears about a decade after infection.
Measles vaccine is safe and 97% protective after two doses.
Although Utah’s spread has slowed in recent weeks, state epidemiologist Leisha Nolen sees little room for rest. She is worried that the start of school and the arrival of colder weather in the fall will cause the measles to grow again.
“It’s still here, it’s still broadcasting,” she said. “We only need those few times to hit the wrong community and it can flare up again very big.”
Utah sees impacts of declining vaccination rates
The worst outbreak has been in the southwestern part of the state, where 265 people have contracted the vaccine-preventable disease since last summer. Overall, measles infections hit 22 of the state’s 29 counties.
In the state’s rural northeast, conditions were also ripe for the spread of measles. Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties — collectively called the “tri-county” health region — saw the second-largest drop in childhood vaccination rates in the state.
More than 16% of kindergartens in the region lacked measles vaccines last school year. according to state data. Nationwide, 12.8% were missing their vaccine, leaving the state well short of the 95% vaccination rate needed to prevent measles outbreaks.
The TriCounty Health Department recorded 74 cases of measles this spring, after people who got sick at a youth wrestling tournament spread the virus to the school and later within their families.
The border region had seen an increase in vaccine hesitancy for some time, said Sydnee Lyons, the health department’s public information officer.
Despite the high number of cases, local and state health officials consider TriCounty’s measles response a success.
Health officials focused efforts on mitigating the inevitable spread. Unvaccinated students were expelled from private schools and people who were sick were told to isolate themselves. And their appeal to watch out for neighbors led to more people coming forward to get vaccinated, officials said.
TriCounty Infectious Disease Specialist Cyndie Mattinson recalled one parent who told a school nurse she didn’t want to talk to the health department because “she was worried we would get mad at her and judge her because her kids were unvaccinated.”
The nurse vouched for the health department staff and told Mom to let her know if she felt judged. Mattinson eventually had a great conversation with the mother.
“Perceptions were changed that we weren’t there to police, we were there to be a help and a resource to the community,” Mattinson said.
Health experts will meet to decide on the status of measles in the US
Utah’s long battle with measles is likely to affect whether the US can maintain its measles-free designation. Public health officials consider measles to be eliminated from a country when it shows that it has stopped its continued spread within local communities for at least one year.
The national number of measles cases was 2,104 as of June 18, nearly surpassing last year’s record total.
Utah has been battling measles for a year, but it’s not clear whether the earlier clusters are linked to the large outbreak on the Utah-Arizona state line that was discovered in August, Nolen said.
But since then, most measles cases in the state have come from within Utah, not from other parts of the country.
International health experts will meet in November to determine whether the US and Mexico have lost measles elimination status. Canada lost its status last year after ongoing outbreaks.
In Utah, doctors continue to reassure fearful patients and lobby for better public health policy.
Dr. Ellie Brownstein, president-elect of the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a pediatrician in Salt Lake City, spent the height of the outbreak opposing a bill that would make it easier to opt out of vaccinations in schools. It failed, but she says there was no clear cultural account for the resurgence of measles.
“I don’t know that we’re going to get it finished,” Brownstein said. “I don’t know that we’re going to put this genie back in the box because there are enough people out there to spread it.”
By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer
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