Kentucky officials are urging parents to get their children vaccinated amid an ongoing measles outbreak in the state that is spreading to various counties.
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services added that the outbreak is believed to have started in Woodford County and has already spread to nearby Fayette. The announcement comes after officials previously reported four new cases of the highly infectious disease in unvaccinated individuals.
Measles in Kentucky
Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack, who is also the newly appointed cabinet secretary, said that it is not surprising for Kentucky to experience cases of measles when there are outbreaks in other states and nearby countries.
He added that the disease can be severe, but argued that it is also avoidable through vaccination. This is why they are now encouraging all parents to have their kids get the vaccine to ensure they are protected from similar preventable diseases.
To note, measles is highly contagious and can be spread through the air when a person coughs or sneezes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that one infected individual can spread the illness to nine out of 10 unvaccinated individuals nearby, according to the Kentucky Lantern.
Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a rash. The CDC also recommends getting vaccinated from the illness when children are 12 to 15 months old and then later on when they are four to six years old.
The cabinet said that despite this recommendation, the number of vaccinations recently has declined. It added that the results from the latest school immunizations survey for the 2024-2025 school year showed that roughly 86.9% of Kentucky kindergarteners are fully vaccinated against the infectious disease.
Spreading Across the State
Officials reported that there are currently five measles cases in Kentucky, four of which were found to be related to the same outbreak. One of the reported cases, which is located in Todd County, is unrelated to the Woodford County and Fayette County infections, WHAS11 reported.
The latest outbreak in Kentucky comes as there is a global spread of the infection, including in Mexico and Canada. It also comes as the largest outbreak of the disease in the United States was previously declared eliminated in 2000.
The medical director for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, Dr. Steve Davis, said that the measles case in Fayette County is considered a limited exposure event. He added that the department successfully conducted contact-tracing and quarantine of the individual's contacts, as per the Lexington Herald Leader.
