DETROIT — Local and state health officials confirmed Thursday that Michigan is experiencing its first measles outbreak since 2019.

An outbreak is defined as three or more related cases, which has been confirmed in Montcalm County, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Mid-Michigan District Health Department, which serves Clinton, Gratiot and Montcalm counties.

“This outbreak underscores how contagious measles is and how quickly it can spread,” said Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive.

The agencies said seven cases have now been confirmed across the state in 2025 — one each in Oakland, Kent, Macomb and Ingham counties — in addition to three in Montcalm County. Officials said the Montcalm cases are not related to any others across the state.

Health officials said the highly contagious disease is best prevented through vaccination.

“The MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine remains our best defense, and two doses of MMR offer 97% protection against measles," Bagdasarian said in a statement. "We urge all Michigan residents to check their vaccination records to ensure they are up to date with the MMR vaccine.”

The disease is spread through direct person-to-person contact and through the air. People can contract measles by being in a room where an infected person has also been up to two hours after they left, according to the CDC.

Anyone who believes they may have been exposed should call their health care provider before seeking treatment so health care workers can take steps to ensure other individuals are not infected.

According to the CDC, measles can cause serious complications like pneumonia and encephalitis. Experts say the disease is potentially deadly, especially for very young children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.

As of April 10, there have been 712 confirmed cases of measles across the U.S., including seven outbreaks. Most of the cases are in Texas, which has seen 561 cases since late January, according to the state's department of health and human services. Two Texas children have died due to the disease.

The nationwide case count is the highest since 2019, when 1,274 individual cases were confirmed in 31 states, according to the CDC.

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