NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Kentucky is experiencing its largest measles outbreak in at least 16 years, with nearly 200 cases reported statewide — a dramatic increase from the 13 cases recorded last year.
State health leaders said the outbreak began in Christian County after a group of people attended a gathering in Pennsylvania in late July, where they unknowingly contracted measles before returning home. Three months later, the virus is still spreading through the county, and cases are growing in other parts of the state.
State health officials said cooperation from the public has been critical to tracking the outbreak.
"We rely on people to partner with us, to communicate with us and share where they traveled, how they may have been exposed, and for the most part they've been very cooperative so we're very grateful for that," said Secretary Steven Stack, Secretary for Kentucky Cabinet for Family Health Services.
Officials said that cooperation is especially important because measles is extraordinarily contagious.
"This is possibly the most contagious viral disease on the entire planet earth for human beings other than maybe COVID," Secretary Stack said.
Dr. Jennifer Cihlar, an epidemiologist overseeing the Clarksville location of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where several measles patients have recently come in for treatment, explained how the virus spreads.
"Primarily transmitted through respiratory droplets so if folks are coughing, sneezing that kind of thing, but also transmitted through air particles," Dr. Cihlar said.
Those particles can remain in the air for up to 2 hours, even after an infected person has left the room.
The vast majority of the cases in Kentucky are occurring in people who are not vaccinated. Doctors said that being vaccinated essentially eliminates the risk of getting seriously ill from measles.
Officials warn that measles can be especially dangerous for unvaccinated pregnant women, and several expecting moms have caught measles in this recent outbreak in Kentucky.
"That raises additional concern because the unborn child can have complications such as stillbirth," Secretary Stack said.
Dr. Cihlar said for people who are not vaccinated, but have been exposed, it's possible to stop getting measles if you take a dose of the vaccine within a certain time period after you've been exposed.
Click here for more information about the measles outbreak in Kentucky: Measles - Cabinet for Health and Family Services
The outbreak is not limited to Kentucky. The CDC said this year has seen the highest number of measles cases nationally in the past 35 years.
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