Health officials confirm more measles cases in Kent County
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Health officials confirm more measles cases in Kent County
The new cases add to a number that was already the highest in Michigan in years. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Immunization has 18 measles cases. 2025 has had the most measles cases of any year since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. Measles is a highly contagious disease that causes a high fever, a rash, a cough and other symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The Kent County Health Department announced the new cases in a press release Wednesday but did not provide any additional details.
“Because neither case involved public exposure sites or posed a risk to the general public, no public notification was issued,” Administrative Health Officer Adam London said. “We’re sharing this update to be transparent and to clarify our approach moving forward. The Kent County Health Department will notify the media and public about measles cases only when they involved public exposure sites and/or a potential health risk.”
The statement added that “this approach helps protect patient privacy while allowing us to focus efforts where they’re most needed.”
The new cases add to a number that was already the highest in Michigan in years.
Ryan Malosh, the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Immunization, told The Detroit News this month that the 18 measles cases in the state at that point was the highest since an outbreak in Oakland County in 2019.
That prevalence, along with a surge in whooping cough cases, prompted local officials to encourage vaccinations.
In the U.S., 2025 has had the most measles cases of any year since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Measles is a highly contagious disease that causes a high fever, a rash, a cough and other symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has placed people critical of vaccines in key advisory roles for federal government health policy and rescinded recommendations the government has previously made for certain vaccines.
Kennedy recently fired the entire 17-member Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine board and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices.
In late June, those advisers said they would be evaluating the “cumulative effect” of the children’s vaccine schedule — the list of immunizations given at different times throughout childhood.