A confirmed case of measles has been reported in Kentucky, health authorities have announced, opening a new front in the US spread of the disease.
The Kentucky department for public health (KDPH) said that an adult who had recently traveled to another country had contracted the disease. The person had been at a Planet Fitness gym while infectious, potentially exposing others.
This is the first case of measles in the state since 2023. It comes as the US battles the spread of the highly contagious virus, which this week claimed the life of an unvaccinated child, marking the first US death from the disease since 2015.
There have been three outbreaks of measles so far this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The most serious of those is in west Texas, where the virus is spreading largely among the Mennonite community in which rates of vaccination are low.
Nine states in total have reported cases of measles. In addition to Kentucky and Texas, that includes Alaska, California, Georgia, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Rhode Island.
Steven Stack, who heads the public health department in Kentucky, urged people to get vaccinated. He pointed out that rates of vaccinations among Kentucky kindergartners was only 90%, lower than the national average.
“Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world. Vaccines are an essential tool to keep children and adults safe and healthy,” Stack said.
The growing challenge of measles comes as a notorious vaccine skeptic has just become the top US health official. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary, founded the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense and has aired debunked conspiracy theories that childhood vaccinations are linked to autism.
Kennedy made his first public appearance in the top health role on Wednesday at a cabinet meeting with Donald Trump in the White House. He said that the measles epidemic was being followed by the government “every day”, but then appeared to try to minimize the seriousness of the spread.
“It’s not unusual. We have measles outbreaks every year,” he said.
