WORCESTER, MASS (WHDH) – State officials confirmed Thursday that a Worcester County resident recently contracted measles, marking the first known case of the virus in Massachusetts in early 2020.
The state Department of Public Health said the adult resident had recently traveled internationally and was diagnosed in early July.
Officials said people who may have been exposed to measles as a result of the case were contacted Thursday morning and given “appropriate public health advice.”
“Measles is a highly contagious, airborne disease that has increased worldwide, including here in the United States and neighboring states in New England,” state Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said in a statement.
Goldstein said measles has been reported in 30 states since early 2023 and urged people to get vaccinated against the virus.
“Vaccination is the best way to prevent measles,” he said.
Officials did not say whether the Worcester County resident who contracted the measles had been followed.
Although officials have not given any indication that the cases are connected, this week’s announcement in Massachusetts follows a series of warnings about confirmed measles cases in Vermont and New Hampshire in recent months.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services urged residents to get their measles immunizations checked on Tuesday last week after an unvaccinated person tested positive after coming into contact with an international traveler infected with measles.
Officials said the latest infection had expanded an ongoing measles cluster to three cases and provided a list of places the person with measles had traveled while contagious.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health says large measles outbreaks are occurring in Europe and other parts of the world, and urges anyone who does not know their measles immunity level to contact their health care provider to get vaccinated.
Centers for Disease Control As of Thursday, it reported 167 measles cases in the U.S. by 2024. This figure has exceeded the annual number of cases reported nationally every year since 2019.
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