Utah marks a year of battling measles, with no clear end in sight
[June 22, 2026]
By DEVI SHASTRI
Utah has spent the past year fighting measles outbreaks — a grim
milestone that could affect whether the United States can keep its
measles-free designation.
More than 680 people have gotten sick since the state's first outbreak
began on June 20, 2025.
Unlike measles outbreaks in Texas, South Carolina and Arizona, the
spread in Utah has been tough to contain to one region — infecting
undervaccinated communities in nearly every county.
Measles popped up in healthcare settings, big-box stores and
restaurants, and youth sporting events. In February, an exposure at a
state high school wrestling championship sparked at least 46 cases among
attendees.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine. It
causes a tell-tale rash, high fevers, strong cough, ear infections and
diarrhea.
While most recover, some — including young babies, pregnant people and
those with weak immune systems — are at higher risk of developing
dangerous complications like pneumonia, brain swelling, blindness or
even dying. Even healthy people can develop issues years down the road,
including a rare but fatal degenerative brain disease that manifests
about a decade after infection.
The measles vaccine is safe and 97% protective after two doses.
Though Utah's spread has slowed in recent weeks, state epidemiologist
Leisha Nolen sees little opportunity to rest. She's worried the start of
school and arrival of colder weather in the fall will cause measles to
surge again.
“It's still here, it's still transmitting," she said. “We just need
those few cases to hit the wrong community and it could flare up really
big again."
Utah sees the impacts of dropping vaccination rates
The worst spread has been in the southwestern part of the state, where
265 people have fallen ill with the vaccine-preventable disease since
last summer. Overall, measles infections hit 22 of the state’s 29
counties.
In the state's rural northeast, the conditions were also ripe for
measles to spread. Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties — collectively
dubbed the “tricounty” health region — has seen the second-largest
decline in childhood vaccination rates in the state.
More than 16% of the region's kindergarteners were missing their measles
vaccines in the last school year, according to state data. Statewide,
12.8% were missing their vaccine, putting the state far short of the 95%
vaccination rate needed to prevent measles outbreaks.
The TriCounty Health Department logged 74 cases of measles this spring,
after people who got sick at the youth wrestling tournament spread the
virus in school and later within their households.
The frontier region had seen a rise in vaccine hesitancy for some time,
said Sydnee Lyons, the health department's public information officer.
Despite the large 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 excluded from in-person school and people who
were sick were told to isolate themselves. And their appeal to care for
one's neighbors led to more people coming in to get vaccinated,
officials said.
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Lauren Ellenburg, a nurse, prepares a combination measles, mumps and
rubella vaccine for a patient at Tiger Pediatrics in Easley, S.C.,
March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon, File)
 TriCounty’s infectious disease
specialist Cyndie Mattinson recalled a parent who told a school
nurse she didn't want to talk to the health department because “she
was worried that we would be angry with her and be judgmental
because her children were unvaccinated.”
The nurse vouched for the health department staff, and told the mom
to let her know if she felt judged. Mattinson ultimately had a great
conversation with the mother.
“The perceptions were changed that we weren’t out 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 US measles status
Utah's lengthy battle with measles will likely affect whether the
U.S. can keep its measles-free designation. Public health officials
consider measles to be eliminated from a country when it shows it
stopped continuous spread within local communities for at least a
year.
The national measles case count was 2,104 as of June 18, nearly
surpassing last year's record total.
Utah has fought measles for a year, but it's not clear if the
earliest clusters are connected with the major outbreak on the
Utah-Arizona state line, which was detected in August, Nolen said.
But since then, most of the state's measles cases have come from
within Utah, not from other parts of the country.
International health experts will gather in November to determine if
the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles elimination status.
Canada lost its status last year after ongoing outbreaks.
In Utah, doctors continue to reassure scared 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 have
made school vaccine waivers easier to get. It failed, but she says
there hasn't been a clear cultural reckoning over measles'
resurgence.
“I don't know that we get it to end," Brownstein said. “I don't know
that we're going to get this genie back in the box because there's
enough people out there to spread it.”
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