Summit County hasn’t had any new measles cases since April, but local health officials are still preparing to tackle a potential outbreak as students return to school later this month.

Epidemiologist Nancy Porter said the United States has reported 2,370 measles cases in 2026 as of Monday afternoon. Utah has the second highest number of cases with 524 so far this year, trailing South Carolina’s 670.

“We have surpassed all 2025 case counts, and we’re only halfway through the year,” Porter said. “We’ll see how this continues to go, but we have been keeping an eye on it all summer.”

Porter said measles cases have been declining over the summer, with fewer than five cases reported each week. However, she warned the disease may “ramp up” when students return to school in a few weeks.

Nursing Director Derek Moss said the Health Department is already in touch with the area’s three school districts to coordinate plans in case of an outbreak.

“The blueprint that we’ve established with those superintendents within the school districts remains in place, and we’re ready to utilize that,” Moss said. “Uptake on the MMR vaccine remains fairly constant. We haven’t really seen an increase or a decrease that’s significant over time.”

Health Director Phil Bondurant emphasized the department’s commitment to public health, saying the organization will never prevent a family from acquiring the vaccine for financial reasons. The Health Department expects to hold multiple vaccine clinics at local schools before classes start, allowing students to obtain their required immunizations in addition to the MMR vaccine.

“If there are individuals who want to be vaccinated and it seems as though the cost of the vaccine is the greatest barrier, that should never be a hesitation among families who want to be vaccinated,” Bondurant said. “Folks can show up. We’ll figure out a way to get them vaccinated and taken care of. … We’re concerned about protecting individuals who want to be protected more than the financial aspect.”

The MMR vaccine is 97% effective in preventing or reducing measles, mumps and rubella symptoms if an individual receives two doses. Approximately 92% of students in Summit County are vaccinated, which is the easiest method of estimating overall vaccination rates in the community. However, herd immunity for measles requires a vaccination rate of 95%.

“There are rare cases where somebody who is vaccinated gets it, but it’s almost always not as severe and shorter-lived,” Moss said in a previous interview with The Park Record. “These vaccines really work, and that’s the reason they’re so important. If you put a bunch of kids into a combined space with an airborne, transmitted disease, there’s a lot of risk there.”

The Health Department is also coordinating with the state to test wastewater, similar to checks done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, to determine infection levels and the severity of the viral spread. Unlike the coronavirus, though, wastewater testing for measles only tells health officials where in the community measles is present, not how many people are affected.

Information on measles is available on summitcountyhealth.org or by calling the Health Department at 801-442-2610.

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The Summit County Health Department confirmed its first positive case of measles over the weekend, and officials are encouraging families to obtain the MMR vaccine to prevent further spread of the disease.

Epidemiologist Nancy Porter said a student unknowingly attended classes at South Summit Elementary School while infected on Jan. 5. Since then, the student has stayed home, and the district has notified parents and staff of the potential exposure.

The Health Department met with the county’s three school districts — Park City, South Summit and North Summit — before the academic year started to discuss a plan of action if measles were to appear in a local school.

County Nursing Director Derek Moss said the plan ultimately assisted the Health Department and South Summit officials in responding to last week’s positive measles case and distributing important information to community members.

“We knew that there was a high chance that a disease like measles could make its way into Summit County,” Moss said. “We talked about everything from notifications between the school district and the Health Department to notifying the community. From my perspective, it went extremely well. Everybody had their ducks in a row, and there wasn’t a lot of scrambling like there could have been.”

South Summit Superintendent Greg Maughan similarly praised the district and county’s proactive approach to an impending measles outbreak, saying it helped school administrators jump into action instead of being caught off guard.

“We had an idea that it could be coming (because of the holiday break), so we were able to do some preparatory work as far as getting work for students who would be impacted by it, as well as staff,” Maughan said. “It made it so that on Monday morning, we were ready to roll, and we had work ready for kids to be able to do it while they’re at home. I think it’s worked out pretty well overall.”

Porter said there haven’t been any additional reported measles cases so far, but she encouraged people to keep an eye on the county’s respiratory illness dashboard, which she updates weekly with local data on measles, the flu and other wintertime afflictions.

“The tricky part about measles is that you can be infectious without knowing it,” Porter said. “That’s one of the reasons why it spreads so quickly. It is still one of the most contagious diseases that we know of.”

A national measles outbreak began in the United States last year. Overall, 2,029 cases have been identified since the start of 2025, and Utah specifically has reported 199 cases, most of which have been located in Washington and Utah counties.

The Health Department is also coordinating with the state to test wastewater, similar to checks done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, to determine infection levels and the severity of the viral spread. Unlike the coronavirus, though, wastewater testing for measles only tells health officials where measles is present, not how many people are affected.

The Health Department is offering free MMR vaccinations, which is 97% effective in preventing or reducing measles, mumps and rubella symptoms, at its three locations every weekday other than Fridays.

Approximately 92% of students in Summit County are vaccinated, which is the easiest method of estimating vaccination rates in the community. However, herd immunity for measles requires a vaccination rate of 95%.

The South Summit Elementary School student was not vaccinated, according to Health Department officials. Approximately 20 students and staff members have been asked to quarantine until Jan. 26 as a precautionary measure.

“There are rare cases where somebody who is vaccinated gets it, but it’s almost always not as severe and shorter-lived,” Moss said. “These vaccines really work, and that’s the reason they’re so important. If you put a bunch of kids into a combined space with an airborne, transmitted disease, there’s a lot of risk there.”

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On Nov. 22, The Wasatch County Health Department confirmed that five Wasatch High School students had contracted measles, with two additional suspected cases awaiting test results. 

On Tuesday, the two suspected cases were confirmed positive, with one more case being identified.

Of the eight cases confirmed in the high school, six were unvaccinated. Wasatch High School has a 92% vaccination rate for the MMR vaccine, according to the health department’s records. To maintain herd immunity, 95% of a certain population has to be vaccinated.

The Health Department said “one or more” of these students attended school or school activities while infectious. Exposures may have occurred during school hours on Nov. 14, 17 and 18, as well as during a school play on Nov. 15.

Wasatch High School families were sent an informative letter with further guidance.

“The cases we have confirmed at the high school are not connected to each other, and because of that, we suspect that other cases may start to pop up in the community,” said Health Director Jonelle Fitzgerald.

Measles is highly contagious and can remain in the air for up to two hours.

Symptoms typically appear one to three weeks after exposure and include high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes and a rash on the face that spreads down the body.

The Health Department encourages anyone with symptoms to contact their healthcare provider before visiting a clinic, emergency room or urgent care facility to prevent further spread.

Health Department public information officer Lana North added, “With Thanksgiving and family gatherings around the corner, please be aware that measles is around. Keep your friends and family healthy by staying home if you’re sick.”

The MMR vaccine is available at the Health Department, pharmacies and doctors’ offices. Receiving two doses of the MMR vaccine is 97% effective in preventing illness, said Health Department immunization coordinator Brenda Scobee.

North added that immunization lessens the communicability of measles and severity of symptoms if a vaccinated person contracts the virus.

Fitzgerald was not surprised to see measles cases emerge in Wasatch County.

“We did have a wastewater test indicate the presence of measles in the community on Nov. 6,” she said. 

Furthermore, measles has been on the rise across the state. According to a report by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, last updated on Nov. 24, Utah has had 96 measles cases in 2025, with the first case emerging in June. Twenty-one of those cases had been reported in the last three weeks. With the three additional Wasatch County cases confirmed Nov. 25, that number is at least 99.

As of Nov. 18, there had been 87 cases. Of these cases, 49 were under the age of 18. Only two were vaccinated at the time of infection. Nine were hospitalized. This data has not yet been updated to reflect the current number of cases.

The majority of statewide cases have come from the Southwest Utah Health Department, which includes Beaver, Iron, Washington, Garfield and Kane counties, with 72 cases between them. 

According to data from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, there had been only one measles case in the state between the beginning of 2020 and June 2025. That case occurred in 2023. 

The rise in Utah cases is part of a countrywide trend that began with outbreaks in Texas in January. There have been 1,753 reported cases in the United States as of Nov. 18. There were 285 cases in 2024.

The rise in cases has been attributed to declining vaccination rates.

Measles was also unusually high in 2019, with 1,274 reported cases across the country — the largest number of cases since 1992. As reported by The Associated Press, three-quarters of the cases were in Orthodox Jewish communities in or near New York City, and the outbreak began with travelers infected overseas spreading measles to people who hadn’t been vaccinated. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, before the measles vaccination program began in the United States in 1963, an estimated 3 million to 4 million people contracted measles annually across the country. Among reported cases, which tended to be around half a million, “approximately 400 to 500 died, 48,000 were hospitalized and 1,000 developed encephalitis (brain swelling).”

Measles was officially classified as eliminated in the United States in 2000.

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State officials have reported 11 confirmed measles cases so far this year, predominantly in Utah County and the southwest corner of the state surrounding St. George. Despite the lack of cases along the Wasatch Back, the Summit County Health Department aims to be as proactive as possible to educate community members about the virus and prevent a large-scale epidemic, especially with students returning to school in the next few weeks.

“I’ve been posting any public exposures that are in Utah as well, just kind of reminding people if you have been traveling and you have some symptoms or you’re worried about your risk, it doesn’t hurt to go back and check the website of the state that you were visiting to see if there were any exposures where you may have been recreating or doing something, visiting family or something like that,” explained county epidemiologist Nancy Porter.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which updates its website weekly with the latest information on measles outbreaks in the U.S., reported a total of 1,356 cases across 41 states on Wednesday. Approximately 92% of those infected are unvaccinated.

“By having two shots of MMR, you’re 97% covered for measles,” Porter said, referring to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. “We’ve been trying to make sure that people know that the vaccine works, and it provides great protection against measles. We’re trying to make sure that people know what symptoms to look out for because this isn’t really a disease that a lot of people have dealt with in a long time.”

The United States declared measles eliminated in 2000 after a 20-year effort to improve vaccination rates throughout the 1980s and 1990s, according to the CDC. However, the country is at risk of losing its elimination status if the current outbreaks continue to spread for more than 12 months, Porter said.

“This is a safe vaccine. It’s been around for a very long time,” she added. “We’re trying to really make people understand that the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself from measles. Sometimes measles will just be a mild illness, but it can also cause serious health complications. This past year, we’ve seen three deaths from measles in the United States, and we haven’t had deaths from measles in so long. It is preventable.”

Approximately 92% of students in Summit County are vaccinated, which is the best way to estimate vaccination rates, according to Porter. However, herd immunity for measles requires a vaccination rate of 95%.

Porter additionally encouraged people who were vaccinated in other states to obtain copies of their immunization records and send them into the Health Department. That way, if there is an outbreak or reported measles case in Summit County, health officials will know whether someone with a potential exposure is at high risk based on their vaccination status.

The local Health Department is also coordinating with the state on wastewater testing, similar to checks done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to determine infection levels and the severity of the viral spread. Unlike the coronavirus, though, wastewater testing for measles will only tell health officials where measles is present, not how many cases there are.

“During that infectious period is most likely when you’re shedding the virus that we can detect in the wastewater, so it’s four days before a rash shows up,” Porter explained. “Now, the state of Utah is starting to test all of our 35 different locations. They’ve started doing the testing, and it’s just a matter of getting those results together in a public format to be able to present.”

Summit County has three locations that will be testing wastewater for measles, and Porter said she expects the state to create an online dashboard with information from the testing like it did during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You can’t really narrow it down to a person or a household or anything like that, but within that wastewater area, you can tell that there is at least some measles. That could be someone just passing through or it could be a resident or someone here on vacation,” Porter said. “But what it does help us do is let our residents and visitors know that there have been measles in the area and to make sure … if you start having symptoms to not just brush it off as like, ‘Oh, it might just be allergies.’”

The Health Department also worked with all three school districts this week — Park City, North Summit and South Summit — on strategies to prevent the spread of measles and how to respond if a student contracts the virus.

“It was a great way to get ahead of it and identify some of these gaps and worries and find them now before we have cases show up and really walk through what our understanding is of what we will handle and what we’ll need from the schools,” Porter said. “It was a fantastic meeting where we collaborated on creating a blueprint for how we’re going to handle the situation.”

Porter added that Utah has had a “disease plan” to combat a measles outbreak for years, which helped the Health Department and area school districts determine the best course of action for the Wasatch Back. The 29-page document, which was last updated in July 2019, outlines everything health officials need to know about measles from symptoms and testing methods to information about complications and public health control measures.

“It’s a way for us to have an established guideline on how best to protect our community, so we use that to develop a two-page blueprint for how we’ll communicate and work with the schools and handle that when, or if, it arises,” Porter said.

She encouraged anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated to contact the Summit County Health Department for an appointment.

“Once you’re exposed it can take up to three weeks, or 21 days, for symptoms to show, so if you have those protective measures in place with the vaccine, if you’re able, it can really allow you to not miss a beat,” Porter said. “It’s really a great way to protect yourself and the community.”

Porter also posts monthly updates on respiratory illnesses in Summit County, including measles and COVID-19, on the Health Department’s website. However, she said she plans on posting once a week starting in October as school swings back into session and the United States continues to deal with nationwide measles outbreaks during peak respiratory illness months.

Measles is a highly contagious illness with serious complications, especially for children under the age of 5, according to the CDC. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes and rashes. It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and the particles can remain in a room after the infected person leaves for up to two hours.

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Utah quietly navigated a measles scare last month after a symptomatic passenger landed at the Salt Lake City International Airport and traveled to Idaho the week before Memorial Day.

Summit County Nursing Director Derek Moss said a passenger traveling from Canada had an active measles case and landed in Salt Lake City on May 19. The passenger then drove to southern Idaho but seemingly did not make any stops along the route.

Days later, on May 23, the same individual drove back to Salt Lake City from Idaho and boarded another plane at the airport. The person has since been placed on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Do Not Board” list, effectively prohibiting them from airline travel in the United States.

State health officials alerted Summit County Epidemiologist Nancy Porter of the situation, as well as other health departments across the state. Moss said there is no reason to believe the passenger interacted with anyone from Summit County at this time, however.

“The state has decided not to do a health advisory or any public notices at this time,” Moss told the Summit County Board of Health on Monday. “They determined at this point he was low-risk, and they didn’t want to cause chaos. That was the rationale.”

Moss said the state believes the individual was fully vaccinated, but one of the two doses the person received was not a vaccination approved in the United States.

“Idaho’s agreed to let us know of any suspect cases related to this individual so that we know what kind of concern we should have, and I haven’t heard anything since they left Utah,” he added.

Measles is a highly contagious illness with serious complications, especially for children under the age of 5, according to the CDC. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes and rashes. It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and the particles can remain in a room after the infected person leaves for up to two hours.

The best prevention method is the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, commonly known as an MMR vaccine. The CDC says two doses of the vaccine are approximately 97% effective when it comes to preventing measles while one dose is about 93% effective.

The United States declared measles eliminated in 2000, but outbreaks have recently become more common. The Associated Press reported last week that the CDC identified more than twice as many measles cases coming from outside of the U.S. compared to May of last year, mostly from unvaccinated American travelers returning to the country.

“In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles,” the Associated Press added.

There are currently 1,088 confirmed measles cases in the United States. Texas has the highest number of cases with a total of 738, and two elementary school-aged children died in West Texas, which is considered the epicenter of the state’s outbreak, in April.

One infected adult in New Mexico also died of measles-related complications in March.

The two children and the adult were all unvaccinated, according to the Associated Press.

The highly contagious nature of measles makes airline travel during outbreaks especially dangerous. In a case similar to Utah’s scare last month, an infected out-of-state passenger traveled through the Denver International Airport in mid-May and subsequently infected six other people who were either on the same flight or inside the airport during the exposure period, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

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