Only two counties saw increases in their measles cases last week, bringing the total confirmed cases in this outbreak up to 193, up from 170 last week, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Bath County, which saw its first case last week, is up to 14 cases, and Christian County increased its number of cases by 10, bringing its total up to 63.
In addition to Bath and Christian counties, the Oct. 26 state measles dashboard shows cases have been confirmed in Barren (5 cases); Caldwell (7); Carroll (5); Laurel (56); Lewis (2); Owen (2); Todd (2); Trigg (31); Trimble (1); and Washington (5) counties. (Four cases were reported earlier this year in Jessamine County, but are not part of this current outbreak.)
The number of hospitalizations remained the same as last week, at 10.
According to the dashboard, all but two of the 193 measles cases were in people who were either not vaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. The dashboard reports that one of the individuals had received one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and one had received the recommended two-dose series of the vaccine.
Health officials continue to urge Kentuckians to make sure they have been immunized from the disease. The two-dose vaccine is typically given to children at 12 to 15 months and then at 4 to 6 years old, but can be given at any age.
Early symptoms of measles begin seven to 14 days after exposure and include high fever, cough, runny nose, and red/watery eyes. The characteristic measles rash can appear three to five days after symptoms begin, usually on the face before spreading down to the rest of the body.
Because measles is so contagious, anyone who is concerned about being exposed to measles is asked to call their provider or local health department to seek guidance on how to proceed. Anyone with measles should talk to their healthcare provider from home and stay away from other people until their symptoms are resolved.
[The Christian County Health Department, at 1700 Canton St., provides immunizations. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (closed for lunch from noon to 12:40 p.m.) Monday through Thursday and 7:30 to 11 a.m. on Friday. The phone number is 270-887-4160.]
Kentucky’s measles outbreak comes as the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows there have been 4,588 measles cases reported in 2026 across the nation as of Oct. 22, which is more than double the number for the whole of 2025 when 2,289 cases were confirmed. So far, Kentucky has confirmed 197 cases in 2026, including the four from earlier this year, up from 13 cases in 2025.
(Kentucky Health News is an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.)
Melissa Patrick is a reporter for Kentucky Health News, an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. She has received several competitive fellowships, including the 2016-17 Nursing and Health Care Workforce Media Fellow of the Center for Health, Media & Policy, which allowed her to focus on and write about nursing workforce issues in Kentucky; and the year-long Association of Health Care Journalists 2017-18 Regional Health Journalism Program fellowship. She is a former registered nurse and holds degrees in journalism and community leadership and development from UK.
