State officials announce first confirmed case of measles in Massachusetts since 2020 – Boston News, Weather, Sports

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 since early 2020.

The state Department of Public Health said the adult resident had recently traveled abroad and was diagnosed in early July.

Officials said people who may have been exposed to measles as a result of the case had already been contacted Thursday morning and given “appropriate public health recommendations.”

“Measles is a highly contagious, airborne disease that has increased worldwide, including here in the United States and in neighboring New England states,” state Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said in a statement.

Goldstein said measles cases have been reported in 30 states since the start of 2023 and urged people to get vaccinated against the virus.

“Vaccination is the best way to protect against measles,” he said.

Officials have not said whether the Worcester County resident who contracted measles was vaccinated.

Although officials have not given any indication of a link between the cases, 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 recently urged residents to check their measles immunity status after an unvaccinated person contracted measles after coming into contact with an international traveler who also tested positive.

New Hampshire officials said the latest infection in their state expanded an ongoing cluster of measles cases to three and provided a list of places where the person with measles traveled while contagious.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said large measles outbreaks are ongoing in Europe and other parts of the world and urged anyone who does not know their measles vaccination status to contact their health care provider to get vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 167 cases of measles in the United States in 2024 on Thursday, the highest number of cases nationwide since 2019.

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