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Opinion | Measles outbreaks shouldn’t happen here. Our county got lucky. This time
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For those of us in public health, being first is not always a good thing.
With large measles outbreaks in several states, and the US in danger of losing its measles elimination status, Washtenaw County Health Department learned of a case of measles in early March. The measles case was confirmed as the first in Michigan in 2026 and grew into our first local measles outbreak in nearly a decade.
By the time the outbreak was over, we had seven confirmed cases. Yes, it could have been much worse, but even with this number of cases our Health Department was working in overdrive and reaching the limits of our capacity.
What the public didn’t see was the instant mobilization of our staff to prevent more people from getting sick.
We activated our emergency response structure and paused regular clinic operations. Over almost two months of investigation and response, we identified 22 exposure sites with more than 1,100 individuals potentially exposed, tracked down contact information for over 500 exposed people, spent hours verifying their vaccine status and helping them protect themselves and others, and quickly stood up testing clinics for nearly 50 people.
We coordinated post-exposure medication for those who were unprotected and exposed, including a 1-week-old infant too young to receive the measles vaccine. We had countless meetings with local medical providers, community partners and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate response efforts.
Through it all, we kept the public updated and shared how to stay safe via press releases, media interviews, and frequent social media posts.
This was an enormous effort. With extra staff time, supplies, medications, lab costs, and more, this single measles outbreak cost over $180,000.
All this work illustrates the value of public health and the importance of response capacity. We breathed a sigh of relief when we were able to declare the outbreak over on May 2. However, working through this came with a profound sense of grief and frustration: This outbreak shouldn’t be happening.
Measles outbreaks are completely preventable. We have an MMR vaccine that is remarkably effective and has worked for decades. We got lucky this time with only seven cases, one hospitalization, and a handful of household contacts directly impacted. Hundreds, and likely thousands, were indirectly affected.
So, why wasn’t this outbreak worse?
Partly because of the swift response of our staff to contain the outbreak, for which I am so grateful, and partly because of community members who put their busy lives on pause to stay away from others when they were sick or exposed. These actions may have saved lives.
Here’s what we do know: Measles isn’t done with us.
Measles is the most contagious virus we know of and vaccine rates are too low. It doesn’t take much for this illness to rip through entire communities, particularly when people are not vaccinated.
Measles can be dangerous: about 1 in 5 people who gets sick will be hospitalized. Babies and young children are most at-risk for severe outcomes like pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death.
People who have gotten the vaccine or have immunity can feel confident in their protection, but infants and some immunocompromised people can’t get vaccinated. Our most vulnerable neighbors depend on community vaccine coverage to protect them from measles.
In a time filled with so much uncertainty and anxiety, measles is one thing we simply should not have to worry about.
We have the tools to protect infants and immunocompromised people, keep kids out of the hospital, and prevent future measles outbreaks. We just need to use them. It is incredibly disheartening to see vaccine-preventable diseases like measles becoming more common in our communities.
We had a close call here in southeast Michigan. With vaccine coverage falling, it is only a matter of time before we’re dealing with another outbreak.
Now is the time to protect yourself and your family with vaccination if you haven’t already. Talk to your family doctor or your local health department to get answers to your vaccine questions. We’ll continue to do all we can to protect our community from this and other serious, preventable illnesses.
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