Summit County health officials announced Saturday they have confirmed the first measles case in the county amid the ongoing national outbreak.
The patient, an elementary school student, may have exposed other children to the virus when they attended South Summit Elementary School in Kamas on Jan. 5, according to a news release from the Summit County Health Department.
Officials are working with the South Summit School District to notify parents, faculty and students of possible infections, the news release stated.
“Our staff and school district partners have taken proactive measures for months to plan and prepare for our first measles case,” Dr. Phil Bondurant, the county Health Department’s director, said in the news release. “We encourage residents and their family members who are not already vaccinated against measles to consider the MMR vaccine, which is the most effective way to protect against measles.”
Someone with measles can spread it to others before even knowing they are infected, according to the news release. People who haven’t received the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine have a 90% chance of getting the disease if they are near an infected person, the news release said.
A county Health Department spokesperson said the child who was infected was not vaccinated.
As of Jan. 6, health officials throughout Utah had identified 176 measles cases since the beginning of the outbreak, with 51 in the past three weeks, according to Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services. Summit County’s case has not yet been included in the overall count.
The majority of the state’s cases have been in southwest Utah (Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington counties), where there have been a combined 129 cases, according to Utah health officials.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 2,144 confirmed measles cases in 2025, and three in 2026 as of Jan. 7.
The state’s health department recommends people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, which officials say is effective in preventing measles 97% of the time when people are exposed.
Measles symptoms include a cough, high fever, runny nose, red eyes and a rash that begins on the head before spreading to the rest of the body, according to the Summit County Health Department.
If someone believes they might have measles, Utah health officials urge them to call a health care provider so they don’t expose anyone to the virus by going in person.