Eastern Iowa measles case is seventh in the state this year

Public health officials are notifying the public that a resident of Eastern Iowa has been diagnosed with measles, and that the public may have been exposed to them at more than half a dozen locations last week.

In a news release issued Monday afternoon, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services notified the public that an adult resident of Eastern Iowa has tested positive for measles. The person is fully vaccinated and has no known link to previous cases of measles in Iowa, according to the release. They also have not recently traveled outside the state.

Iowa HHS and local health officials have identified locations visited by the person while they were contagious, and where the public may have been exposed to measles. Those locations are as follows:

Anyone born in or after 1957 who visited any of the locations on the dates and during the times above, and is unvaccinated or unsure of their immune status, should report to the online questionnaire which can be found at forms.office.com/g/znkgFZwhWQ.

Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that is spread through the air when an infectious person coughs, sneezes, or breathes. Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, red/watery eyes, runny nose, and a rash. It can kill people by also causing pneumonia and brain inflammation.

If you think you have been exposed to measles and have symptoms, call your medical provider or nearest emergency room ahead of time and tell them that you have been exposed to measles and have symptoms before arriving.

Seven Iowa measles cases so far this year

Monday’s case brings the total to seven measles cases in Iowa this year. The first case was reported in May, and was the result of travel. Three of the cases were members of the household of a Johnson County child who tested positive for the virus after traveling.

Of the seven Iowa cases, five have been in unvaccinated people, while two of those infected were fully vaccinated.

As of July 8, a total of 1,288 confirmed measles cases have been reported in the United States. Of these, 92 percent were unvaccinated, and 8 percent had received at least one dose of MMR vaccine. This year’s outbreak was first identified in western Texas in January.

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The virus was eliminated in the United States in 2000 through vaccination, but occasional outbreaks happen when residents travel to other countries and become infected. This year's national outbreak is the worst since 2019.

Iowa has among the lowest rates of measles vaccination in the country, according to kindergarten vaccination data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 89 percent of kindergarten students in the 2023-2024 school year in Iowa were vaccinated.

The CDC recommends vaccination rates of at least 95 percent to prevent outbreaks. None of Iowa's neighboring states achieved that mark in that school year. Nebraska was closest at about 94 percent. Wisconsin was lowest at about 85 percent.

Childhood measles vaccination rates have waned since 2019, when the last significant outbreak occurred. That year, 1,274 infections were confirmed in the United States.

Iowa's seven measles infections this year exceed the two infections in 2019.