Measles Confirmed in Southern Illinois

It was probably inevitable. A case of the measles has been confirmed by Illinois health officials in the southern part of the state. There are some very important things to know about what this means for you and the rest of Illinois moving forward.

The Illinois Department of Public Health just shared a press release providing the details of the state's first measles case for 2025 so far. Here are the exact words from the health officials about what they've learned:

"The case, involving an adult in far southern Illinois, was confirmed through laboratory testing on April 23. This is the only case IDPH is aware of and this is not considered an outbreak at this time."

Here's what we don't know as of now

Illinois health officials are "working to identify any possible exposed patients and check immune status of those individuals" in the clinic where the adult reached out for medical care. They currently categorize the risk of public exposure to this measles case as "low". They may upgrade this alert to a potential outbreak if they learn of more exposed and compromised individuals, but that's not the status now.

What we do know about this Illinois measles case

As of right now, there is only one Illinois adult that has been confirmed to have the measles. This is NOT an outbreak at this time. The Illinois Department of Public Health wants everyone to be aware of the symptoms of the measles which include "rash, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes". If you develop these conditions, you need to seek out medical help as soon as possible.

You might recall that last year one case in Chicago eventually resulted in an outbreak of 67 cases. That's what health officials in Illinois are trying to avoid this year.