Pima County sees 3rd measles case of 2026

Pima County’s third case of measles for this year was recently confirmed, public health officials announced Friday.

The Pima County Health Department announced the person diagnosed in the most recent case was an international visitor who was exposed to the potentially deadly infection in Colorado and developed symptoms while in Pima County.

The patient is isolating and recovering at home, officials said. Anyone who was present between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. last Thursday at Banner – University Medical Center’s Emergency Department, 1625 N. Campbell Ave, is urged to watch for symptoms and contact PCHD if they experience any.

The department is constantly investigating reported cases that could be measles, PCHD epidemiologist Anissa Taylor said Monday.

But those cases are rare because of the prevalence of vaccines, according to Taylor.

“If you’ve looked at the data, there have been 123 cases statewide,” she said. “It’s probably one of the most contagious diseases we have.”

Measles is characterized by a rash that usually appears on a person’s face and moves downwards. The virus is one of the most contagious to infect humans, and can be fatal. But immunizations are highly effective in halting its spread, if enough people in a community have gotten their shots.

But about four days before there’s a rash, she said, a person can experience one or all of the symptoms healthcare professionals call “the three C’s:” Cough; conjunctivitis, or a red, watery eyes, and coryza, or an upper respiratory infection.

Symptoms also include a fever and diarrhea. Series cases of the disease can result in permanent hearing or vision loss, pneumonia, brain damage and death.

PCHD epidemiologists are constantly investigating potential disease cases, and measles is often on the list of possible diagnoses “any time a provider says, ‘We have a fever and a rash,'” she said.

Doctors are encouraged to contact the Health Department every time they suspect a case of measles.
However, she said, both symptoms can be indicators of multiple common conditions, from Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease to West Nile Virus.

“Most childhood diseases are that,” she said. “It’s a lot of ruling out.”
Each person diagnosed with measles this year has been an adult, she said.
The first case was confirmed in early 2026.

Taylor said health officials started investigating the second case in July, but didn’t know exactly when it was confirmed.
Though the measles is easily prevented through vaccines, Taylor added, there’s been a “movement” of people reluctant to get them.

And those who are immunocompromised, such as infants and chemotherapy patients, are also vulnerable to measles infections.

“There’s still a group of people in our community who we need to make sure are protected,” said Taylor.

Some officials in the Trump administration have for years spread falsehoods about immunizations, including measles shots.

In a 2021 book, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote that measles outbreaks had been “fabricated” to scare parents into vaccinating their children.

Americans “will learn that they have been misled by the pharmaceutical industry and their captured government allies into believing that measles is a deadly disease and that measles vaccines are necessary, safe and effective,” Kennedy wrote in the foreword to “The Measles Book: Thirty-Five Secrets the Government and the Media Aren’t Telling You about Measles and the Measles Vaccine” by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine activist group of which he is the co-founder.

Kennedy has repeatedly spread false claims that vaccinations are connected to autism.

In fact, two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective at preventing measles and one dose is about 93% effective, local officials said last year.

Measles spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms develop one to two weeks after first contact, and can include high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes and a rash. In serious cases, measles can cause pneumonia or encephalitis, which can lead to permanent brain damage.

Measles has an R-naught (a measure of how many people will become infected if they come in contact with somebody who has the virus) much higher than COVID-19, or even Ebola and smallpox. It is one of the most contagious diseases on Earth to infect humans. Prior to vaccines becoming available, it killed hundreds of children in the United States each year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an MMR vaccination rate of 95 percent or higher in order to prevent outbreaks of measles. In the 2024-25 school year, kindergartners in Pima County were vaccinated against the disease at a rate of 92.8 percent.

In 2025, Pima County only saw one reported case, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
The state agency currently counts 123 confirmed cases in 2026 to date, and is seeing an outbreak near the border Arizona shares with Utah.

As of Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed more than 3,500 cases throughout the United States, with 40 outbreaks reported nationwide. There were nearly 2,300 cases and 48 outbreaks nationally in 2025.

Taylor, who repeatedly stressed the importance of vaccines, mentioned they are available at all three PCHD clinics.
Some of those clinics also have weekend hours in some seasons, she said.
“Know your immunization status,” said Taylor. “And if you don’t know, you can come to us and we’ll get you a booster.”