Mohave County public health officials are working to contain a measles outbreak in a small town on the Arizona-Utah border where cases have doubled in the last week.
As of Sept. 3, 24 measles cases were confirmed in the Colorado City area, up from 12 cases a week earlier. Eight cases have also been reported recently in neighboring communities in southwest Utah.
Colorado City has about 2,500 residents, many of whom are members of the Mormon-offshoot polygamist sect known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS). The community has very low vaccination rates.
One Colorado City elementary school last year reported a kindergarten MMR vaccination rate of just 7% – the lowest rate reported by any school in the state, records from the Arizona Department of Health Services show. The other school in the town reported a 40% kindergarten MMR vaccination rate last year.
The MMR vaccine is highly protective against measles. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two doses of the vaccine are 97% effective at blocking the virus. But measles is so contagious that medical experts say about 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated to prevent the virus from spreading.
According to the Mohave County Department of Public Health, the majority of measles cases in Colorado City have been among school-aged children, with infected individuals ranging in age from one to 45 years old.
“While measles can lead to serious complications requiring hospitalization, we are fortunate that none of the confirmed cases in Mohave County have required hospitalization at this time,” Mohave County Public Health Director Melissa Palmer said in a statement emailed to KJZZ.
The statement said the Mohave County Department of Public Health is working to contact and isolate anyone who may have been exposed, providing vaccination clinics in the area, and distributing information about the highly infectious virus through local schools and businesses.
“We recommend that all unvaccinated or under-vaccinated residents take immediate precautions to protect themselves and their families,” Palmer said.
According to the CDC, 1,431 cases of measles have been reported across the U.S. this year — the largest outbreak in more than three decades. This year, 92% of U.S. cases have been among people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
In addition to the 24 recent cases in Mohave County, Arizona has reported four other cases this year in Navajo County.
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The list includes a Latter Day Saints church, a Fry’s, a Target and several restaurants. Anyone who may have been exposed to measles should watch for symptoms for three weeks.
