IDAHO FALLS, ID – After not reporting any measles cases this year during the nation’s worst outbreak of the highly contagious disease in decades, Idaho health officials reported two cases this week.
The two new infections — both in unvaccinated children — are Idaho’s first measles cases since 2023, when an outbreak in southwest Idaho led to 10 infections. The new reports are the first measles cases recorded in local residents in eastern Idaho and the Panhandle area of North Idaho in more than three decades, local health officials say.
A child living in Bonneville County became eastern Idaho’s first measles case of a local resident since 1991, the Eastern Idaho Public Health District announced Thursday. When symptoms first showed, the child was isolating in a household with an international visitor who had measles, health district spokesperson Brenna Christofferson told the Idaho Capital Sun.
Eastern Idaho Public Health officials “still believe the public has not been exposed to the identified cases due to self-isolation during the contagious period[s],” she said.
Eastern Idaho Public Health will not publicly announce in news releases other measles cases that could be linked to the household, but will report household cases to the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, the health district said in a news release. Cases linked to community spread will be reported, officials said.
On Tuesday, North Idaho officials reported that a child in Kootenai County became the first case in the state’s Panhandle area since 1991. Last week, officials detected measles in wastewater in Coeur d’Alene, the largest city in the state’s Panhandle area where Idaho’s first measles case this year was reported.
This year, health officials have confirmed 1,356 measles cases across 40 states by early August, according to the CDC. Idaho’s two cases are not included in the national tally yet.
Officials encourage people to verify vaccination records
Measles is highly contagious but rare. Up to 90% of non-immune people in contact with an infected person can become infected. The virus can live in the air up to two hours after someone infected leaves.
Symptoms typically appear seven to 14 days after exposure and include high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a distinctive rash, the CDC says. While many recover without problems, measles can lead to serious complications, especially in very young children and people with weakened immune systems.
Vaccination is the best way to prevent measles, health officials say.
Health officials encourage people to verify their family’s vaccination records with their primary care provider or through the Docket App. A person is considered immune if they were born before Jan. 1, 1957, have a documented history of laboratory-confirmed measles or have documentation that they received both doses of the MMR vaccine.
Idaho has a spotty record for measles vaccinations, the Sun previously reported.
The virus’s serious complications can include pneumonia, encephalitis (an inflammation of the brain) and, in rare cases, death.
People with measles symptoms should not enter health care settings without calling ahead, and they should contact their health care providers. People exposed to measles should monitor for symptoms for 21 days after exposure.
There is no antiviral treatment for measles, according to the CDC.
This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.