Unvaccinated adult in downstate Marion was Illinois' first measles case of the year

Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune on Apr 24, 2025

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Illinois’ first measles case of the year was in an unvaccinated adult in downstate Marion, according to the state health department.

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced the first measles case Wednesday — news that comes amid a swell of measles cases across the country. The health department provided the additional details about the location of the unidentified individual and the person’s vaccination status in a health advisory sent to local health departments and health care providers.

The advisory also listed eight locations where people might have been exposed to the individual with measles from April 7 to April 15: three laundromats, a Walmart, a Kroger, a gym and a restaurant, all in Marion, and the clinic where the person sought care, which was not identified in the advisory.

“A public health investigation is underway to identify locations where the patient was while infectious,” according to the advisory. “Persons exposed will be contacted to determine immune status. Those susceptible will be monitored for symptoms and asked to quarantine.”

Measles is a highly contagious virus that can lead to serious health complications, especially in young children. Symptoms can include a high fever, rash, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. The virus can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and a person can catch the measles just by being in a room where an infected person was up to two hours earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are considered 97% protective against the measles, and one dose is considered 93% protective. Children typically receive the first dose of the vaccine, or the similar measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chickenpox) vaccine at age 12 to 15 months, and the second dose from ages 4 to 6.

Cases of measles have surged this year amid wariness of vaccines. As of April 17 there had been 800 cases across the U.S. this year — the second-highest number of cases in the U.S. in 25 years and 180% higher than the number of measles cases in the U.S. last year, according to a CDC report released Thursday.

Three people with measles in the U.S. have died this year, including two children, and all three were unvaccinated. Before this year, there had not been a measles death in the U.S. for a decade.

There have been 10 outbreaks across the country, with the largest one in Texas, which has had 624 cases this year as of April 22, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The last time Illinois had a case of measles before now was in March 2024, when 67 cases were reported, with most linked to a Chicago shelter for migrants on the Lower West Side. That outbreak was the largest in Illinois since 1990, according to the state health department.

People can look at their medical records or contact their health care providers to check their vaccination statuses. They can also visit the Illinois Department of Public Health’s online portal, Vax Verify, to check their immunization status.

The state health department has also released a online tool that allows people to look up measles vaccination rates and data about the risk of outbreaks at individual schools across the state.

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