There are 3,471 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S. as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is a stark increase from last year’s 2,289 reported cases, and the highest recorded annual cases since 1991.
Measles was “officially eliminated” from the U.S. in 2000, meaning it is not spreading across the country and any new cases are found only when someone contracts the disease abroad and brings it back, according to the CDC.
Although no cases of measles have been reported in Athens County, there are four reported cases in Meigs County, three cases in Gallia County and at least one case in Morgan County, according to their respective health departments.
62% of cases were found in ages 19 and younger, with 95% of cases found in people who are unvaccinated or of unknown vaccination status. According to the CDC, 124 cases were reported in 2026.
Under Ohio Revised Code 3313.671, The Ohio Department of Health requires K-12 students to be vaccinated against 10 preventable diseases, including measles. They might be exempt from vaccination if the child acquired natural immunity, is medically contraindicated or the child’s parents decline vaccination for reasons of conscience.
The CDC reported an estimated 88.1% of kindergarteners in Ohio received the MMR vaccine, which prevents measles, mumps and rubella, during the 2025-26 school year. According to the ODH, 94.2% of Athens County kindergarteners met the MMR requirement.
Dr. Rebekah Crawford, assistant professor of community health at Ohio University, is a health communication scholar and works to confront vaccine concerns people might have. She said people in rural counties often show concerns about vaccinations.
“I think a lot of times folks in more rural counties, for example, haven't had access to as much medical or scientific training, and so it's easy to feel, to perceive a risk for something that feels like it could threaten a sacred value, like a child or a kid's wellness or their life,” Crawford said. “I think a lot of people are hearing enough scary things that are not true, and it feels safer to take a risk with the illness rather than to take a risk with the vaccine.”
Crawford said the data proves the choice to refrain from vaccinations due to possible negative reactions is actually much riskier for health.
The MMR vaccine is rarely shown to cause major complications, including non-life threatening bleeding disorders, severe allergic reactions and febrile seizures. Rarely are those side effects found in individuals vaccinated during the recommended ages, common reactions include a sore arm, fever, mild rash and swollen glands, according to the CDC.
Measles causes common symptoms of a rash, fever, cough, coryza, conjunctivitis and photophobia, according to the ODH. Children under five years of age, adults over 20 years of age, people with a compromised immune system and pregnant women are at an increased risk to experience complications with measles, including otitis media, diarrhea, pneumonia, encephalitis and occasional death.
Trust in the MMR vaccine decreased in the last six years. Currently, 76% of Americans believe the MMR vaccine is safe for children, down from 84% in May 2020, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The distrust comes as a result from more widespread worries surrounding vaccinations. According to the CDC, vaccination rates decreased dramatically over the past few years. In more than half of states, vaccinations including MMR, DTaP, poliovirus vaccine and varicella vaccine decreased.
Additionally, about 280,000 kindergartners attended school without receiving the MMR vaccine during the 2025-26 school year and exemptions climbed since the year prior.
The Trump administration pushed anti-vaccination policies, bringing the recommended number of vaccines to the American public from 18 to 11, via an executive order in August.
Along with the Trump administration, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing the idea that vaccines are linked to autism.
Due to that, the CDC has since updated their website to indicate that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
The CDC, however, reported there is no link between autism and the MMR vaccine. Parents’ concerns originate from signs of autism typically beginning at the same age children are advised to receive that vaccination, according to the CDC.
Karla Smith, a licensed practitioner nurse since 1988, believes in mandatory vaccinations, including the MMR vaccine.
Smith said the decline in vaccinations contributed to the spread of measles this year.
“We're seeing what that causes,” Smith said. “We're seeing it in real time. There's been four deaths in Pennsylvania alone ... that's why you're seeing these pockets of outbreaks. It's not due to immigrants. What they're finding is most of them are travel-related, unvaccinated American citizens traveling abroad come back, and that's where you get your outbreaks, and then people are dying.”
According to Smith, modern concerns regarding vaccines, such as the MMR vaccine, were exacerbated by fears surrounding the COVID vaccine. She believes the government should have been conducting health information programs to explain the vaccines and to not fear them.
“There should have been educational programs, announcements, breaking news, even to explain these vaccines to people, the new mRNA vaccines-and they never did that,” Smith said. “They have never put these educational programs out. Even Biden fell down on that … somebody should have stepped up and been pushing education on vaccines at that point because of Trump doing so much damage.”
