Missouri health officials alerted about a confirmed St. Louis area measles case on August 4. Measles, serious and highly contagious through coughing and sneezing, causes symptoms like fever, cough, runny nose, and rash after 7 to 14 days. Suspected cases should be reported to local health agencies or DHSS at 314-615-1630.

Measles is highly contagious, so officials are working to notify people who might have been exposed to the disease. A full list of known Missouri locations related to the recently confirmed case, and times for potential exposure, can be found here.

Measles is an infectious, airborne disease. It can spread via close contact with others. For suspected measles cases, individuals should reach out to healthcare providers before arriving for care. Suspected cases should also be reported to public health agencies.

Measles is preventable with vaccines. After community vaccination, measles was “eliminated” in the U.S. in 2000, meaning continued measles spread stopped for at least 12 months.

Currently, 90.8% of children in the U.S. have had the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine by age 2.

There have been reports of new measles cases since 2000. For example, the U.S. had 49 new measles cases in 2021, most of which occurred in individuals who were unvaccinated.