The Erie County Health Department has declared a measles outbreak, citing two confirmed cases related to a person who tested positive for the highly contagious disease on March 30.
Contact tracing remains underway for those potentially exposed at the UPMC Hamot-Emergency Department, the Erie County Health Department said in a Monday news release.
“Due to contract [sic] tracing and quarantine measures implemented with people who had been exposed, Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) does not have reason to believe there is a high risk of community spread or exposures in relation to these cases,” the release said.
A UPMC spokesperson in a Tuesday statement said that an unvaccinated child had been diagnosed with measles at UPMC Hamot earlier this month and that everyone who may have been in contact with the child has been notified.
“Precautions taken by staff members limited the risk of exposure,” the statement said. “There is no ongoing risk of contracting measles at the facility related to this patient.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a measles outbreak as three or more connected cases.
Erie County has seen a total five confirmed cases in recent weeks. Two cases related to international travel were reported on March 24, ECDOH Director of environmental health services Breanna Adams said in an email, while the current outbreak is connected to the March 30 case — likely due to domestic travel.
It’s not unusual for Pennsylvania to see a smattering of measles cases in a given year, and last saw an outbreak in 2023, in Philadelphia County, per the state’s Department of Health. The first 2025 case in the state was reported in mid-March in Montgomery County.
Erie County has not seen a spike in cases like this since 19 cases were reported to its health department in 1991.
Measles cases in the U.S. for the year have already far surpassed 2024’s total: The CDC as of April 11 reported 712 cases for 2025, while last year saw 285.
The main driver of this year’s surge of the airborne virus is an outbreak that began in Texas in late January. That has led to two confirmed deaths in unvaccinated children, with one additional death under investigation, according to the CDC.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported April 15 a total of 561 cases, up 20 cases from four days prior. Cases have spread to bordering states, with the New Mexico Department of Health reporting 58 measles cases as of April 11; Oklahoma and its northern neighbor Kansas have declared outbreaks as well.
The Ohio Department of Health announced an outbreak of 10 cases in Ashtabula County on the Pennsylvania border on March 25.
Allegheny County Health Department spokesperson Ronnie Das said via email Tuesday that it is monitoring the situation in Erie and that Allegheny County still has zero cases of the virus.
“The most safe and effective prevention for measles is getting the MMR vaccine,” Mr. Das said. “We highly recommend every resident check their immunization record, speak with their health care provider, get a titer test, or get the MMR vaccine to help ensure our county continues to stay measles free in 2025.”
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is 97% effective against severe measles after two doses and provides lifelong immunity, per the CDC and hundreds of scientific studies across decades.
“Typically when someone is identified with measles, no matter where it is, we get notified, either the local lab or the state lab,” said Pennsylvania Health Secretary Debra Bogen during an unveiling of ACHD’s new public health laboratory last week. “Our epidemiologists call and find out where that person went during their infectious period, and then we do contact tracing to let people know they might have been exposed.”
People born before 1957 are considered to have natural immunity against measles. Those born between 1957 and 1968 may want to speak to their doctor about getting an MMR booster shot, as the vaccine offered during those years was made from inactivated portions of the virus and did not work as well to protect against the disease. And those born between 1968 and 1989 may also speak with their provider about getting a titer test, which measures measles immunity, or getting an MMR booster, as they may have only received one dose of the vaccine back then.
MMR vaccine rates in Western Pennsylvania are fairly high, but Allegheny County has pockets with low immunization rates, according to the county health department’s Immunization Dashboard, leaving them vulnerable to an outbreak.
“If people are vaccinated, they are protected,” Dr. Bogen said. “The MMR vaccine is incredibly effective.”
Correction: 4/16/2025 5:12 p.m. An earlier version of this article misstated the last time Pennsylvania had a measles outbreak. It was in 2023, in Philadelphia County.
First Published: April 15, 2025, 7:04 p.m.
Updated: April 16, 2025, 5:11 p.m.
