An unvaccinated Georgia State University student has been diagnosed with measles, the seventh case in Georgia this year, after spending time on campus, at Inter Atlanta FC soccer games and practices, and at a restaurant at Ponce City Market over a nine-day period.
The amount of time the patient spent in public while potentially infectious between Sept. 2 and 11 will require “an absolutely massive contact investigation,” said Scott Thorpe, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Public Health Leadership.
The student spent time while infectious in two buildings at GSU (the Aderhold Learning Building and Langdale Hall), at the Sweetgreen restaurant on North Avenue, and at Inter Atlanta FC soccer practices and games, according to a Georgia Department of Public Health press release issued Friday.
The student had not traveled outside the United States. In the past few decades, most cases of measles in the United States came from people who were exposed while traveling abroad. But over the past year, cases caused by domestic transmission have increased.
The student did not live in GSU housing, a university spokesperson said.
Measles is highly contagious and can linger in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has been there. In a group of unprotected people, 9 in 10 of those exposed will be infected.
“DPH is working with the Fulton County Board of Health, GSU, Inter Atlanta FC, and Sweetgreen to notify individuals who may have been exposed to the virus and are at an increased risk of developing measles,” the DPH press release said. The agency said it “urges health care providers to maintain heightened awareness for patients with measles.”
The Fulton County Board of Health will conduct screenings and contact tracing, a GSU spokesperson said.
“The university has informed those impacted that they will be contacted and [is] encouraging their cooperation and compliance,” the university spokesperson said.
The university requires students to be vaccinated but allows exemptions for religious reasons. Students must sign an affidavit to obtain the exemption, a spokesperson said.
Georgia had six measles cases in 2024. The case announced Friday is the seventh this year.
A January outbreak involved three unvaccinated children from the same Gwinnett County family after the initial patient had traveled to New York City. A second outbreak reported in May involved three unvaccinated members of the same family who contracted measles after at least one member traveled internationally.
Nationally, 1,454 cases have been reported as of Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the cases are connected to a large outbreak in west Texas and New Mexico. Two Texas children and a New Mexico adult – all unvaccinated – have died. Cases have also been reported in South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina this year.
A school-age child in California recently died from a rare but fatal complication of measles, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. The child contracted measles as an infant before they were eligible to receive the vaccine, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported this week.
Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent measles. Children typically get two doses of the vaccine as part of the measles, mumps, rubella regimen – the first between ages 12 and 15 months, and the second between ages 4 and 6 years.
About 95% of people need to be vaccinated to prevent widespread transmission of the virus, or achieve “herd immunity,” according to the CDC. The United States eliminated widespread transmission of measles in 2000.
But that status could be at risk, said Dr. Jane Seward, former deputy director of the Division of Viral Diseases at the CDC.
“The danger now … is that these importations get in, and they get into a community that has lower vaccine coverage than you need to interrupt ongoing transmission,” Seward said.
In Georgia vaccination rates have been on the decline.
Kindergarten vaccination data from the CDC show 86.8% of the state’s children were fully up-to-date on their MMR vaccinations last year.
“We’re likely to see more and more cases like this across Atlanta and across Georgia as our vaccination rates continue to fall,” Thorpe said. “The risks – particularly for vulnerable populations like small children who aren’t yet vaccinated – are significant.”
Tony Fiore, a doctor and infectious disease expert who worked at the CDC, said the latest case will put a major strain on county and state health departments working to trace people who were potentially exposed.
Several groups could be at risk if they were exposed, Fiore said. That includes babies who were too young to be vaccinated, the 2%-5% of people who don’t develop immunity after normal vaccination, the unvaccinated, and those who lost or never had immunity.
“If we are lucky, none of those scenarios will be in play since we still have high vaccine coverage in the U.S., for now,” he said.
Symptoms of measles include a high fever, cough, runny nose, red watery eyes, and a characteristic red rash.
People who suspect they or their child have measles are urged to call their health care providers before going to a hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office to avoid infecting staff and other patients.
Healthbeat is a nonprofit newsroom covering public health published by Civic News Company and KFF Health News. Sign up for their newsletters here.
