By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
A second case of measles was confirmed in Jessamine County, both in unvaccinated residents younger than 5 years old, according to state and local health officials.
This is the second case of measles reported in Kentucky in 2026, and these are the first confirmed measles cases in Kentucky residents since July.
The first case was confirmed Jan. 15 in an unvaccinated child who was exposed to the virus by an out-of-state traveler in Fayette County between Dec. 31 and Jan. 2, according to a Cabinet for Health and Family Services news release.
LEX 18 reported on Jan. 20 that two Jessamine County students are also quarantining after being exposed to the virus. “The two attend East Jessamine Middle School and East Jessamine High School, with one student additionally attending the Jessamine Career and Technology Center located at West Jessamine High School,” Lex 18 reports.
On Jan. 26, the state’s measles website page listed four confirmed measles cases in Kentucky, all in Jessamine County, with three of the cases in people under the age of 5 and one between the ages of 5 and 17. None of the four residents with measles were vaccinated.
Measles is a highly contagious virus that can cause serious health complications, especially in young children. The virus spreads in the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes and can live for up to two hours in the airspace after an infected person leaves the room.
“If you have measles, up to 90% of the people close to you, who are not immune, will also become infected,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health officials say the best protection against measles is the two-dose measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. This vaccine series is typically given to children at 12 to 15 months and then at 4 to 6 years old, but people of any age can get the vaccine.
Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and rash.
The Jessamine County Health Department encourages people with symptoms of measles to contact their health care provider before entering a health care facility.
“Measles is contagious up to four (4) days before the start of rash and four (4) full days after the rash has developed,” the health department says in a Facebook post.
CHFS data show there were at least 13 confirmed measles cases in Kentucky in 2025.
Health officials also encourage good health habits to prevent transmission of measles and other contagious illnesses, such as washing hands often with soap and warm water, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying at home from work or school when sick.
Kentucky’s latest measles cases come as hundreds of measles cases are being reported nationwide, with most of the cases coming from a large and fast-growing outbreak in South Carolina, Katelyn Jetelina and Hanna Totte report for Your Local Epidemiologist.
YLE also draws attention to a new health map tool (healthmap.org/measles/) from Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which highlights high-risk pockets. The tool allows you to enter your ZIP code or county to see if the area you live in is at high risk of a measles outbreak. It also allows you to scroll over each of the counties to check measles risk levels. The risk level is determined by the vaccination rate in that county or ZIP code.
YLE writes, “Like wildfires igniting in dry tinder, measles ravages areas with low vaccination rates.”
