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The Utah Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed nine measles cases in the state of Utah, as of Tuesday.
According to the department, seven of the people who have been infected reside in Utah County, and two live in the southwest portion of the state.
The two new infections from Utah County were added to the department’s online count on Friday, and the other two were added on Tuesday.
Each of the four newly infected people were known contacts to people who previously had been infected, the department said, “and were being actively monitored for measles symptoms.”
Each of the nine people infected are unvaccinated.
People who are infected, the department has said, typically see symptoms one to two weeks after they are exposed. Those symptoms can include a fever higher than 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as cough, runny nose and red eyes. After about four days of the fever, people then typically start developing a rash. According to state epidemiologist Dr. Leisha Nolen, the rash usually starts in peoples’ hairline before spreading across their face.
The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is 97% effective in protecting people against measles if they are given two doses, according to the state department.
Last Thursday, the department announced two cases, which brought the then-total amount of infected people to five, including one child. Health officials said that in both of those new cases, the department knew those people had been exposed.
Among those first five cases, two of the infected people had been pregnant, and two had been hospitalized and released.
The department recommends that people who plan to get pregnant should get vaccinated before becoming pregnant, to protect themselves and their baby through their pregnancy. Women who are pregnant cannot get the vaccine, according to the department, and pregnant people with measles face a higher risk for miscarriages and stillbirth — as well as medical issues for the baby.
Nolen said people who are still unvaccinated should talk seriously with their doctors about their choice, and stressed that adults choosing to get vaccinated help protect babies who are not yet big enough to receive the vaccine.
A higher percentage of people in southern parts of Utah are unvaccinated, Nolen said, compared with other areas of the state.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 27 outbreaks and a total of 1,267 confirmed measles cases throughout the country as of Tuesday. Three of those people have died because of the measles. The CDC reports there were a total of 285 confirmed cases in the United States in all of 2024.
Though the CDC says “measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000,” the disease is currently spreading because “U.S. MMR coverage among kindergarteners is now below the 95% coverage target” and is decreasing, and “global measles activity is increasing.”
In Utah’s 2024-25 school year, about 10% of kindergarteners either had an exemption from receiving the MMR vaccine or did not have documents that showed they were vaccinated, according to the state health department.