ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Health has reported a new measles case in Georgia.
The case comes from an unvaccinated Bryan County resident. Bryan County is near Savannah.
The individual has no history of international travel but recently traveled out of the state.
DPH is notifying people who may have been exposed to the virus and are at increased risk of developing measles.
This is the second reported measles case in Georgia in 2026. There were 10 confirmed measles cases in Georgia last year, DPH said.
Measles is highly contagious and spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The virus can stay in the air from up to two hours after an infected person has left the area.
Those infected will typically experience symptoms 7 to 14 days after exposure, including high fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes. The telltale rash starts at the head and spread to the rest of the body.
Those with measles symptoms should contact their healthcare provider immediately, but they should not go to the doctor’s office or a public health clinic without calling the office first.
Health officials say the MMR vaccine is safe and highly effective at preventing measles and rubella. It’s typically to children in two doses.
As of Feb. 19, 2026, 982 confirmed measles cases were reported in the United States in 2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Three died of measles last year, the CDC said.
When measles gets into communities of unvaccinated people in the United States, outbreaks can occur, the CDC said.
Ongoing outbreaks of measles, driven by vaccine hesitancy, threaten the disease’s elimination status in the United States, the National Institute of Health reported in 2023.
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