Measles cases are up nationwide – and in Missouri. On Wednesday, the Wright County Health Department shared on social media that it had confirmed three measles cases.
In its statement, the health department said the cases “were evaluated by local healthcare providers and tested positive for measles. Persons with known possible exposures are being contacted. Details of potential public exposures have been limited thus far. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.”
Wright County said it is working in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
As of Wednesday, the CDC had reported 4,080 measles cases nationwide this year, a significant uptick from last year’s total of 2,289.
Kendra Findley, BCBH program coordinator for the Taney County Health Department, said measles is highly contagious and potentially dangerous. According to Findley, a person with measles can potentially spread the illness to 18 vulnerable and unvaccinated people.
"So, I mean, if you can picture what that looks like for every one case, you could have 18 cases, how quickly that could explode within a population as far as the amount of disease," she said. "And measles isn't just an inconvenient rash illness, you know, in children, up to 30% of cases will have serious complications with the disease. So it is something to think about. It is something to prepare for."
Stephanie Woehl, administrator of communicable disease prevention at the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, said there’s an easy way to prevent the illness.
"We have a really great tool to help protect ourselves and our community from measles in the MMR vaccine," she said. "So the vaccine that's measles, mumps and rubella, that vaccine has a really high efficacy. It works really well to help protect us from the measles virus...it's very effective, and it's very safe. It is one of it is our best tools in our toolbox to help keep ourselves and our community safe from this virus."
She encourages anyone who has questions about the vaccine to talk with their health care provider.
Findley said the Taney County Health Department is working to spread the word about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine as measles cases continue to rise.
"For a long time, it was a disease that we didn't really have to think about too much because there wasn't much of it...circulating within the community," she said. "But as vaccination rates have dropped, you're starting to see it pop up and start circulating as they're seeing this year with that measles outbreak across the United States. So, you know, the best method of prevention is the vaccine, which has been proven safe and effective."
Woehl said there’s been a steady decline in vaccination rates over the last few years. Missouri’s kindergarten vaccination rate for 2025 was 89.5%, down from nearly 95% in 2019. The Wright County kindergarten vaccination rate was reported at 81.4% last year.
According to the CDC and the World Health Organization, a community needs a vaccination rate of at least 95% to be adequately protected from measles outbreaks.
"I think it's multifaceted," Woehl said about why vaccine rates have dropped. "There are a lot of reasons, and it's usually very individualized, but there is a lot of information about vaccines in various media forms. There are challenges with access. Questions arise around safety and efficacy. So there's not a, I think, one size fits all to why we're seeing that decline."
Three measles cases were reported in Greene County earlier this year. Taney County hasn’t yet seen a measles case this year. The state currently reports a total of 14 measles cases in Missouri in 2026. Missouri reported 6 total cases in 2025 and 2 in 2024.
Signs and symptoms
According to the CDC, measles symptoms appear 7 to 14 days after contact with the virus. Measles typically begins with:
- High fever (may spike to more than 104 degrees)
- cough
- runny nose
- red, watery eyes
2–3 days after symptoms begin: Koplik spots
Tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth two to three days after symptoms begin.
3–5 days after symptoms begin: measles rash
Measles rash appears 3 to 5 days after the first symptoms. It usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline. They then spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet.
- Small, raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat, red spots.
- The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body.
- When the rash appears, a person's fever may spike to more than 100 degrees.
Contact your healthcare provider if you suspect measles.