Consistent with a national trend, the Commonwealth of Virginia is experiencing a heightened prevalence of the viral infection measles. Charlottesville has seen the two of the state’s three confirmed cases according to the Virginia Department of Health. While Virginia’s number of cases is far lower than that of states facing significant outbreaks, such as Texas, it has still gotten the attention of local and state public health experts who are concerned about this peak in measles cases.
Virginia’s first case was confirmed in April, with the patient being a child under the age of 5 and from the Northern part of the state. The second and third cases were in Charlottesville in late May and early June and both patients were minors. The most recent of these two cases was reported June 5 in Charlottesville, and the Virginia Department of Health is currently conducting contact tracing, which tracks individuals with the virus and notifies those who were exposed.
Meredith Robinson, head of the measles response effort and vaccine-preventable disease coordinator at the Virginia Department of Health, said that tracking is an important practice for measles, which is highly contagious and is characterized by high fevers, cough, runny nose and red watery eyes according to the CDC.
“Measles is a respiratory illness the particles can stay in the air for up to two hours after a sick person leaves a space,” Robinson said. “There can be a high number of exposures, especially in a … large public space.”
Nevertheless, Costi Sifri, director of hospital epidemiology at U.Va. Health, is confident that the Charlottesville and University communities are well equipped to face a potential measles outbreak, which is defined as five or more suspected cases in a community or three or more confirmed cases in a community.
“By and large, the student body is well vaccinated … hopefully that means that the risk of a large outbreak is low,” Sifri said. “We understand from the Blue Ridge Health District and Virginia Department of Health that by and large, our community here in Charlottesville and Albemarle County is [also] well vaccinated.”
In a statement to The Cavalier Daily, Meredith Hayden, chief medical officer at Student Health and Wellness, recommended that students stay up to date on their measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, practice good hygiene and seek medical guidance promptly.
The MMR vaccine is one of several that the University requires entering students to have received. The University also offers vaccine exemptions on both medical and religious grounds. Members of the University community can use MyChart to check their vaccine status.
Vaccination is especially important to protect against measles and the unvaccinated disproportionately contract the illness, but some have questioned vaccine safety over the past few decades. Sifri stresses that MMR vaccines are highly safe and effective, having nearly wiped out the illness in a short amount of time.
“With use of the vaccine over the years [we] have gained an appreciation that two doses of vaccine are 97 percent protective, based on clinical studies,” Sifri said. “When I was a child … [measles] was not an uncommon infection.”
The vaccine for measles was introduced in 1963, and all 50 states mandated it for school children by 1980. The CDC recommends the first dose of the MMR vaccine between 12 and 15 months of age and the second dose between 4 and 6 years old.
Due to vaccination, measles is no longer considered an endemic illness in the United States. It typically only enters the country by importation — patients catching the disease while traveling internationally. Public health experts usually recommend that individuals travelling outside of the country check their vaccine status before leaving.
Recent outbreaks across the country have led Robinson to expand her recommendations to those traveling to states experiencing outbreaks, such as Texas, New Mexico and Kansas.
“There's an increased risk of people being exposed while traveling domestically,” Robinson said. “Our guidance has shifted to recommending that people be aware of where those outbreaks are happening, making sure that they’re immune before they travel to those areas, making sure they check their vaccine status.”
According to Robinson, measles cases peak globally every five years, which, coupled with increased vaccine hesitancy after the COVID-19 pandemic, could explain the uptick in measles cases. The U.S. experienced peaks in cases in 2014, 2019 and now 2025.
Sifri explained that the symptoms of measles can cause severe damage.
“We call them the three Cs, cough, coryza and conjunctivitis,” Sifri said. “People who develop [measles] and particularly children, are very sick and importantly, it can lead to complications.”
Near-term complications caused by measles include pneumonia, encephalitis and even death. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, encephalitis is the inflammation of active tissues of the brain, causing headaches, light sensitivity, confusion and seizures. Long-term complications can include a weakened immune system and a substantially higher risk of infection in addition to slow, progressive and possibly fatal brain complications.
Individuals who think they may have contracted measles should get an MMR vaccine within three days of exposure if unsure of their vaccine status and contact the VDH once 72 hours have elapsed since exposure.
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