(WDNews) — Alabama health officials say they are preparing for the possible arrival of measles as cases continue to rise across the country.
Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama’s state health officer, said during a recent Alabama Department of Public Health meeting that officials are working to ensure providers are ready.
“We’re educating providers and sending out information to health care facilities and individual providers so that they can look for it and recognize it,” Harris said.
Harris said Alabama now has the ability to test for measles in-state, which allows for quicker results.
“We’ve got the ability to do our own measles testing now here in-state, which is a much quicker turnaround than having to send it out,” Harris said.
Through Feb. 13, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported nearly 1,000 confirmed measles cases nationwide this year. Two-thirds of those cases are in South Carolina, mostly among unvaccinated individuals. Florida has also reported 63 cases.
Harris said it is not a matter of if measles reaches Alabama, but when.
“There are already cases from that cluster that are in Charlotte, North Carolina, in East Tennessee. Georgia has had cases. Florida has a different cluster in the Fort Myers area,” Harris said. “We fully expect that we’re going to see it.”
According to the CDC, measles often begins with fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed by a rash. Severe cases can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling or death. Health experts also warn the virus can weaken the immune system.
“I just want to remind you, measles is the most infectious disease,” Harris told committee members.
In 2025, the CDC confirmed 2,280 measles cases in the United States. Alabama reported one case in north Alabama involving an unvaccinated child who had traveled internationally. The child recovered and did not spread the virus. It was the state’s first confirmed measles case since 2002.
CDC data shows about 90% of cases in 2025 were linked to outbreaks, and roughly 4% involved people who were fully vaccinated. Health officials say about 95% of a population must be vaccinated to maintain herd immunity.
For the 2024-25 school year, 95.2% of Alabama kindergarten students were fully vaccinated against measles. However, November data from the Alabama Department of Public Health showed about 77% of children under age 10 were up to date on the measles vaccine.
Harris said vaccination remains the only effective protection.
“Generally speaking, people in Alabama understand the importance of the measles vaccination. That’s not one of the controversial ones, or shouldn’t be,” Harris said.
Dr. Adam Harrison, a Cullman-based physician and committee member, said many doctors have never treated a measles case.
“We’re more than likely going to see this coming through urgent care or something. We preemptively tried to push out some education to physicians and practitioners that are going to see this,” Harrison said.
“Most of us have not seen a case. Most of us have not depending, on your practice and your age and where you practice.”
Harris also noted that Alabama’s flu season is beginning to slow, though cases remain elevated. As of Saturday, 8.89% of emergency department visits involved respiratory virus symptoms, up 17% from the previous week. About 8% of visits resulted in a positive flu test, down from a peak of 9.52% late last year.
Harris said three pediatric flu-related deaths have been reported in Alabama this season.
“We are seeing some influenza B, which is not unusual for that towards the end of the season to pop up a little bit after a lot of people have already had flu A,” Harris said.
