Georgia, Measles outbreak in Atlanta urban area

An outbreak of measles has been reported in the Atlanta metropolitan area by the Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale public health departments. The outbreak involved three members of the same household who were not vaccinated against measles, as reported by Epidemiology Program Manager Keisha Francis-Christian at the Gwinnett County Board of Health meeting. The initial individual who tested positive sought medical care in three different locations before isolation, thereby exposing over 300 individuals across at least 30 counties to the disease. Thanks to the contact search efforts of infectious disease specialists from Georgia, nearly all contacts have been identified and will be monitored for 21 days to check for possible symptoms. Currently, no cases of measles outside the immediate family have been reported by GNR Public Health or other health departments in Georgia. However, Francis-Christian has demonstrated that the number of measles cases in the US is five times higher than those identified between 2023 and 2024. In February, Texas health officials addressed an outbreak of at least nine residents in one of the state’s less vaccinated counties. In response to this resurgence, Texas health officials have initiated measures to curb the outbreak, with at least nine cases identified in one of the state’s less vaccinated counties.