- Measles is spreading in Utah, affecting grocery stores, a temple open house, and the University of Utah.
- The university reported potential exposures at five campus locations this week.
- Measles cases in Utah has reached 559 since June 2025; vaccination remains crucial.
SALT LAKE CITY — Measles exposures at the grocery store, in waiting rooms, a temple open house and now the University of Utah adds to the spread of the highly contagious illness.
On Wednesday, the university sent out a notice about five spots on campus where people could've been exposed.
Nicholas Rupp, with the Salt Lake County Health Department, said measles is such a contagious airborne illness that it can remain in the air in a room where someone with measles had been breathing for up to two hours after.
"Ninety some-odd percent of people who are unvaccinated who come into contact with someone with measles will get measles," Rupp said.
This current measles outbreak will have lasted one year in June. Back in the year 2000, it was declared eliminated from the U.S.
Rupp said, back then, Utah saw a measles case once every few years.
"It was generally imported from someone who lived here traveling internationally, someone who was not vaccinated, caught measles overseas in a place where it hadn't been eradicated, and then brought it home to Utah," he said. "We had vaccination rates in the community that were high enough to give us herd immunity, and so that single case, imported from someone traveling internationally did not turn into a widespread outbreak."
Today's measles outbreak
As of Tuesday, Utah has had 559 cases since June 2025.
"You think you have a sniffle, a little fever, headache, runny nose," Rupp said. "You don't get that telltale measles rash until sometimes day three or four."
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Utah has one of the higher case counts in the nation.
Rupp said 14% of Salt Lake County's cases required hospitalization.
"The rash is small red dots," he said. "They're usually flat. They start typically on the forehead at the top of the body, and then they move their way down the body."
That rash can lead to worse symptoms.
"It can cause pneumonia, it can cause a swelling of the brain or encephalitis, and that's where you get into some potential long-term neurological damage," Rupp said.
According to the CDC, three people died from measles last year.
"The vaccine is 93% effective with one dose. And if you get the recommended two doses, it provides 97% protection," Rupp said.
He said even though the vaccine is recommended for young children, it's not too late for adults to get vaccinated or get the second dose.
"The MMR vaccine has been around since 1963," Rupp said. "We have decades and decades of research, millions of people who have received it without any negative side effects."
To look up your person vaccine record, you can call your health care provider, check the Docket app if you're from Utah, or you can get tested to see if you have the antibodies against measles in your body.
