Measles
For updates and exposure site lists, visit the Michigan Measles Dashboard.
What is Measles?
Measles (also called rubeola) is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease that is spread by direct person-to-person contact and through the air. Measles can cause serious health complications, especially in children younger than 5 years old, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems. About 1 in 5 people in the U.S. who get measles will be hospitalized.
Measles Prevention & Vaccination
Measles can be prevented with the MMR vaccine. The vaccine protects against three diseases: measles, mumps, and rubella.
The MMR vaccine is safe and effective. It consists of two doses and is about 97% effective in preventing measles and protecting against it for life. Health care providers recommend that children receive the MMR vaccine between 12 and 15 months of age, and again between 4 and 6 years of age — before entering school. Talk to your health care provider if you’re an adult and not sure if you need the measles vaccine.
Do you need a measles vaccine?
Unsure of your MMR vaccine status? If you have been immunized in the State of Michigan and are over the age of 18, you may be able to download your personal immunization record from the Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR).
Immunization Appointments
Talk to your doctor about MMR vaccination, or schedule an appointment with LCHD.
How Does Measles Spread?
The virus that causes measles lives in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person. A person is considered contagious as early as 4 days before developing a rash through 4 days after the rash appears. The virus can spread through airborne droplets caused by sneezing, coughing, and speaking. Infection can also occur after touching a contaminated surface, then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
Measles virus can live for up to two hours in an airspace after an infected person leaves an area; if other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surfaces and then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected. More than 90% of people who have not been vaccinated or have not had measles will develop measles after being exposed.
Symptoms:
Symptoms usually begin 7-14 days after exposure but can appear as long as 21 days after exposure, and may include:
- High fever (may spike to over 104°F)
- Cough
- Runny nose
- Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
- Koplik spots: tiny white spots on the inner cheeks, gums, and roof of the mouth (develops 2-3 days after symptoms begin)
- Rash: Red, raised, and blotchy appearance and usually starts on the face and spreads to the trunk, arms, and legs (develops 3-5 days after symptoms begin.
If symptoms develop, call ahead before visiting your doctor, urgent care or emergency room so they can take precautions to prevent exposure to other individuals.
I have been exposed to measles, what do I do?
- Unvaccinated individuals should get vaccinated within 72 hours of exposure. If you do not have a record of two measles (MMR) vaccines, are unsure if you have been vaccinated, or are unsure if you have had measles in the past, contact your healthcare provider.
- Immune globulin (IG) is effective within 6 days of exposure for high-risk individuals, including those who are unvaccinated or unsure about vaccination status, pregnant women and those with a weakened immune system due to illness and diseases like HIV, malnutrition, and/or medications. Contact your healthcare provider to see if this treatment could be right for you.
- Watch for symptoms for 21 days after potential exposure. Call your healthcare provider if symptoms develop and inform them that you were exposed.
- If symptoms develop, call ahead before visiting your doctor or emergency room so they can take precautions to prevent exposure to other individuals.
- Stay home if you are sick and don’t allow visitors in your home, as measles is highly contagious.
Are there complications from measles?
Ear infection and diarrhea are the most common complications of measles. People with weakened immune systems can develop pneumonia (an infection of the lungs), and pneumonia is the leading cause of death from measles in young children.
Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) is an uncommon, but serious complication of measles that can cause permanent brain damage or death.
During pregnancy measles infection may cause premature birth, low birth-weight, and fetal death.
Measles Resources
Information for Healthcare Providers:
Clinicians should be vigilant for the possibility of additional measles cases after known exposures, and are advised to take the following precautions in assessing patients with significant fever, cough, coryza, and/or conjunctivitis and presenting with a macular/papular body rash:
- Avoid exposure to other patients
- Isolate the patient – use a negative pressure room if available
- Assess patient’s immunization history and for risk factors including recent travel or recent contact with person(s) having febrile rash illness
- Report suspect cases to the Livingston County Health Department at 517-552-6882
- Obtain serum and a throat swab (the latter to be collected with a synthetic swab and placed in viral transport medium)
The average incubation period for measles is 10-12 days to earliest symptoms, and typically 14 days to the start of the rash. The incubation period may range up to 21 days.
Healthcare workers, especially those born before 1957, should consider getting two doses of MMR vaccine.
Measles vaccination is a part of routine childhood immunization in the U.S. In addition to vaccination of children, any adult born in 1957 or later is advised to be vaccinated against measles if they are uncertain of their measles immunity status. Measles can spread readily in insufficiently vaccinated communities.
Resources for Healthcare Providers:
Last Modified August 10, 2026
