LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Both Indiana and Kentucky have reported confirmed cases of the measles as vaccination rates in the states remain below national averages.

The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that's airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

While confirmed cases of the measles are rare, there have been six confirmed cases in Indiana and one in Kentucky. The confirmed cases have local health officials monitoring the virus.

"Is there a specific surveillance, are we going out to those communities and looking? No," Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel said Monday. "But when we see your classic viral kind of syndrome, that's starting to become on our radar and asking about travel, immunization status, just a little more in-depth questioning than we would in a scenario where that's not as much on the radar." 

Measles first infects the respiratory tract then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash.

The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.

Over two to three weeks, the patient becomes infectious.

"Anytime there is a case we get worried because measles is so infectious, so easily transmitted," said Thomas Duszynski with IU Fairbanks School of Public Health. "But it's also so easily prevented. So if we're getting cases of measles, they're saying we're doing something where we're not getting people vaccinated, for whatever reason. And with the number of deaths that have already occurred this year because of measles, it becomes even more alarming."

Vaccination rates in Indiana are low compared to national averages. Only 59% of the population has completed its vaccination series in Floyd County, while Clark County isn't much better at 62%. Indiana has set a statewide vaccination goal of 95% by 2030.

The unvaccinated population is a risk to themselves and others. 

"We haven't had a pediatric death in the U.S. for I think two decades," Duszynski said. "Or an adult death more than a decade. So all of a sudden we have three in the same year is really troubling and really unnecessary."

Children in the U.S. are generally required to be vaccinated to go to school, which in the past ensured vaccination rates stayed high enough to prevent infectious diseases like measles from spreading. But a growing number of parents have been skipping the shots for their kids. The share of children exempted from vaccine requirements has reached an all-time high, and just 92.7% of kindergartners got their required shots in 2023. That's well below the 95% coverage level that keeps diseases at bay.

There is no treatment for measles once a person has contracted it, but there are reports of parents giving their children Vitamin A.

"Vitamin A has some beneficial effects," Yazel said. "The problem is we're seeing also some Vitamin A toxicity and things like that. So if you're going to do any kind of supplementation, you should in coordination with a medical provider. I wouldn't do that in lieu of getting vaccinated. There are some good immune benefits."

According to the CDC, there were a total of 712 confirmed measles cases reported in the United States in 2025, and 11% of those cases have led to hospitalizations. There have been seven outbreaks in 2025.

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