Dr. Brian Niedbalski
Local health officials are expressing concern that the highly contagious measles virus could start spreading in Bartholomew County after Indiana health officials announced an outbreak this week that has no known links to the outbreaks in several other states.
On Wednesday, the Indiana Department of Health confirmed five additional cases of measles less than 48 hours after announcing the state’s first case this year.
Of the six cases, four were in unvaccinated children while the other two cases were in adults with an unknown vaccination status, officials said.
“I think that the public should be concerned about cases possibly arising in Bartholomew County,” said Bartholomew County Health Officer Dr. Brian Niedbalski. “Unfortunately, our county immunization rates do not meet the threshold for herd immunity, which is 95% for measles.”
Herd immunity means that enough people are immune to a disease to make it hard for the infection to spread.
Vaccination rates among children ages 19 to 35 months in Bartholomew County hovered between 84% and 86.6% from 2021 to 2024, according to the Indiana Department of Health. By comparison, the vaccination rate in Allen County, where all six cases were reported, has hovered between 79% and 83.1% over the same period.
“There’s definitely the potential that it could spread further,” said Dr. Casey Lesniak, who specializes in family medicine at Franciscan Health’s Mooresville Family Care. “…We have a seen an increase recently in the number of children in our community who are unvaccinated for it. We expect that to probably be the case throughout Indiana.”
Measles is a respiratory illness that causes a high fever, rash, cough and red eyes and can lead to life-threatening complications, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It is caused by one of the world’s most contagious viruses, which can spread easily when an infected person breathers, sneezes or coughs. It most commonly affects children.
While most children will recover from measles, infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.
However, the illness is preventable through the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is safe and highly effective at preventing infection and severe cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and local and state health officials. The first shot is recommend for children ages 12 to 15 months, and the second for ages 4 to 6 years.
“The MMR vaccine has been proven to be safe and extremely effective (two doses of MMR vaccine are 97% effective in preventing disease),” Niedbalski said. “I would encourage parents to contact their children’s medical providers if they are uncertain about a child’s vaccination status. Parents should be aware that measles can lead to pneumonia, brain infections and rarely blindness.”
Amanda Organist, director of nursing at the Bartholomew County Health Department, said all of the department’s clinics have MMR vaccines, as well as all age-appropriate vaccines except the shingles vaccine.
“I believe that our community primary care providers do their best to promote and encourage all vaccines,” Niedbalski said. “However, some parents choose not to vaccinate their children for one reason or another, and there are other children who don’t have optimal access to health care.”
Numerous states have reported measles cases this year, confirming health experts’ fears that the virus will take hold in other U.S. communities with low vaccination rates and that the spread could stretch on for a year, The Associated Press reported.
The U.S. has already seen more measles cases this year than during all of 2024.
As of Thursday, a total of 712 confirmed measles cases had been reported by 25 jurisdictions, including Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington, according to the CDC.
Texas’ cases include two young elementary school-aged children who were not vaccinated and died from measles-related illnesses near the epicenter of the outbreak in rural West Texas, which recently led Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to visit the community, according to wire reports. The third person who died was an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated.
In the U.S., cases and outbreaks are generally traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in communities with low vaccination rates. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles.
“(Measles) is one of the most contagious disease that we know of,” Lesniak said. “…So, it does raise some concerns that it could spread quickly.”
