Kentucky Health Alert - Measles Exposure

KDPH Measles Handout

The Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) is notifying providers of confirmed measles exposures linked to infectious individuals who traveled to Kentucky from out of state. Community exposures occurred in Grant County between December 28–30, 2025 and in Lexington-Fayette County between December 31, 2025 and January 2, 2026.

KDPH is working with local health departments to identify exposed individuals, though not all possible exposure sites may be known. These cases occur amidst a rise in cases of measles in the U.S. that has resulted in more than 2,145 cases, 240 hospitalizations and 3 deaths nationwide since January of last year, including several large ongoing outbreaks in South Carolina, Utah and Arizona.

Summary and Action Items

• Be alert for signs and symptoms of measles, particularly among people who have not received two doses of measles-containing vaccine and people who reside in close-knit communities that are commonly under-vaccinated. Healthcare providers should also consider outreach to patients who are eligible for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination to encourage routine immunization in accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
• Collect detailed travel history for patients with febrile rash illness and consider measles in patients who may have been exposed in Grant County or Fayette County or who report any international travel, travel to areas in the U.S. with ongoing outbreaks or other contact with large numbers of people who have traveled internationally (e.g., being in an airport that receives international flights).
• Measles is a reportable disease requiring urgent notification. Do not wait for a positive result to initiate contact with public health. If measles is suspected, healthcare facilities should implement appropriate infection prevention and control measures and report any case, suspected case or positive laboratory result via telephone to the local public health department jurisdiction in which the patient resides within 24 hours. If the local health department cannot be reached, contact 888-9-REPORT to reach the epidemiologist on-call at KDPH.
• Measles virus testing is available at the KDPH Division of Laboratory Services (DLS) for eligible clinical specimens upon approval. KDPH requests that providers send specimens for PCR testing of all suspect measles cases to DLS rather than to commercial labs, to avoid significant delays in public health response measures.
• Routinely assess all patients for MMR vaccination needs. Providers can use the Kentucky Immunization Registry to access and document patient immunization information.
• Measles resources for healthcare providers and the public can be found on the KDPH measles website.