Illinois heath officials responding to measles outbreak in Douglas County

Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune on Sep 2, 2026

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Illinois health officials announced an outbreak of measles Wednesday in Douglas County in east central Illinois – news that comes amid a national resurgence of the illness.

There have been at least four confirmed, linked cases of measles in Douglas County, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. An outbreak is defined as three or more connected cases.

“Illinois is fortunate to have high vaccination rates overall that protect most Illinois residents from measles,” said department Director Dr. Sameer Vohra in a news release. “However, there are still areas across the state with lower vaccination rates where people are at high risk.”

In Douglas County, 96.8% of school children were vaccinated against measles last school year, according to the department’s school vaccination coverage dashboard. The state’s goal is for 95% of children to be vaccinated.

Vohra is urging people to make sure they’re vaccinated against the illness, which is highly contagious and can spread through the air when a person coughs or sneezes. It can also spread through contact with nose and throat secretions from an infected individual.

One dose of the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine is 93% effective and two doses are 97% effective in preventing measles, according to the health department.

The vaccine is typically given in two doses, with the first shot around 1 year of age and the second between 4 and 6 years old.

The state health department has been responding to the Douglas County outbreak by working with local health officials to identify people who were exposed to measles and offering vaccines to people in the community.

So far this year, there have been nine cases of measles in Illinois, according to the state health department, including a recent case in Kane County. Last year, the state had 14 cases of measles.

Measles had been declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but in recent years it’s been making a comeback amid hesitation over vaccines and changing federal guidance about a number of non-measles vaccines. The federal government has continued to recommend measles vaccines for all children.

As of Aug. 27, there had been 2,903 confirmed measles cases in the U.S. in 2026, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s the largest number of cases in decades, according to a U.S. Measles Tracker hosted by the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Of those 2,903 cases, about 94% were in people who were unvaccinated, according to the CDC.

This year, Utah and South Carolina have had particularly high numbers of cases. Utah has had 526 cases this year, and South Carolina has had 670, according to the CDC.

Amid changing guidance about vaccines at the federal level, the Illinois-based American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics joined with other medical groups Tuesday to announce joint recommendations for flu, COVID-19 and RSV shots.

Last month, the Illinois Department of Public Health reaffirmed its support for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ immunization schedule, which recommends two doses of the MMR vaccine for all children.

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