ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Public Health has confirmed a new measles case, bringing the state’s total to 22.
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An unvaccinated Macon resident has a case of measles and is isolating at home. The person’s unvaccinated close contacts are also quarantining.
Though the infected individual had no travel history, the person had contact with a confirmed measles case from Pennsylvania, a state with an outbreak that has exceeded 1,100 cases.
The new case brings Georgia’s total to more than double the number reported all of last year. There were 10 cases in 2025.
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Pediatrician Dr. Roy Benaroch told Channel 2’s Brittany Kleinpeter last week that one of the challenges in containing measles is that people can spread the virus before they realize they are sick.
“You can become contagious a few days before you become ill,” Benaroch said.
Measles is highly contagious and spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
“I think it’s fair to say it’s the most contagious virus that we know of, and one of the reasons is because it’s truly airborne,” Benaroch said. “It’s just in the air. It doesn’t need little water droplets; it just floats in the air.”
If one person has measles, up to nine out of 10 people who come into close contact with that person will become infected if they are not protected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Vaccination is the best protection, the CDC said.
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