(The Center Square) – Arizona continues to see measles cases along the Utah border.
There have been 176 total cases for 2025. Of those, 172 are associated with the outbreak on the Arizona-Utah border, specifically in Mohave County.
“For the last two weeks, we have seen an increase of 22 cases,” said Shane Brady, deputy state epidemiologist with the Arizona Department of Health Services. “We are at six hospitalizations.”
Sixty-six percent of cases involve people under age 18. A majority of those people – 97% – are unvaccinated.
“Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and your family from measles,” Brady told The Center Square Wednesday. “One dose is about 93% effective, and two doses provides 97% protection, so it is really important to make sure that everyone stays up to date on all their vaccines, including measles, as it is the best way to protect yourself from disease.”
Measles is a contagious virus that officials say can remain airborne up to two hours after an infected person has exited a room. Symptoms are known to start seven to 14 days after exposure and include high fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes and rash.
Navajo County is the only other county in Arizona where measles cases have been reported this year. Coconino and Apache County do not have any cases, and like Navajo and Mohave County, they are also on the border with Utah.
When asked why other Arizona counties do not have cases, Brady said that could be due to a number of factors.
“We do know that vaccination rates we’re talking about are childhood vaccinations,” said Brady. “For school data in terms of the 2024-2025 school year, 88.7% of kindergarteners were fully vaccinated for measles, and in Mohave County, that’s 78.4%.”
Brady added that the statewide average is lower than the 95% needed to prevent outbreaks, leading Brady to state that Arizona is “very fortunate that we have not spread outside of Mohave County” for this outbreak. That, said Brady, is why Arizona is encouraging people to make sure that they are vaccinated to prevent further spread.
“Some people who get vaccinated will have a breakthrough infection,” said Brady. “Typically, breakthrough infections are less severe. That is not necessarily always the case, but we know that a vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and prevent the disease in the first place.”
In a November story for The Center Square, Nicole Witt, Arizona’s assistant director for public health preparedness, said the current outbreak is the largest Arizona has seen since the 1990s.
