Iowa confirms first measles case of 2026 in vaccinated Polk County resident

Polk County confirmed its first measles case of 2026 in a vaccinated resident who recently traveled internationally. The person is recovering at home and doing well, but public health teams warned about possible exposures across the Des Moines metro, Webster City, Altoona and West Des Moines.

Health officials identified exposure sites from July 1 through July 5, including Dollar General, Family Dollar, MercyOne Des Moines Pediatrics Urgent Care, MercyOne Des Moines Imaging, Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal Church in Des Moines, Casa De Restauracion in Webster City, Kwik Star in Webster City, Under Armour Factory House in Altoona and Iowa Clinic Urgent Care in West Des Moines. Anyone who was at those locations during the listed times was told to watch for symptoms for 21 days and to call a medical provider or emergency room before arriving if fever, cough, red or watery eyes, runny nose or a rash developed.

Polk County Health Department Director Juliann Van Liew said the infected person had been in public spaces for several days. The infection was acquired during international travel.

State Medical Director Dr. Robert Kruse said measles is still circulating in the United States and around the world, and that the routine childhood immunization series remains the strongest protection against the disease. Vaccinated people who still get measles usually have milder illness and are less likely to spread the virus. Iowa HHS said about 3% of measles cases occur in fully vaccinated people.

Iowa had nine confirmed measles cases in 2025. Nationally, the United States recorded 2,289 confirmed cases in 2025, along with 243 hospitalizations and three deaths. As of July 2, 2026, the country had already logged 2,170 confirmed cases, and 93% were in people who were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status.