More measles cases reported in northern Utah, but not to the point of worry, one official said

SALT LAKE CITY — Despite an uptick in the number of measles cases detected through wastewater testing in northern Utah, one health official is not alarmed.

Since September 2025, Bear River Health has reported four measles cases, Davis County has detected two, Utah County has detected five, and Summit County has reported three. 

Comparatively, southwest Utah officials have reported 15 cases of measles detected through wastewater testing.

Utah, Davis, Summit, and the Bear River Health Departments have seen measles in wastewater since then, some as recently as Oct. 28. But a comparison between northern and southern Utah shows a large difference.

Utah began testing for measles in wastewater in July 2025, and since that time, according to the Utah Wastewater Surveillance System, only southwest Utah has been reporting measles on a near-weekly basis.

Jordan Mathis, with the Bear River Health Department, said the few cases of measles detected in wastewater in northern Utah means the virus isn’t spreading rapidly through areas like his.

“We’ve had … hits that have corresponded with positive cases, and then we’ve had a couple of hits that kind of came on to the radar and then went away,” Mathis said.

He attributed the measles cases seen in northern Utah to people traveling through the area, and the possibility of cases that have remained undetected by the state.

Vaccination rates

Bear River Health represents Box Elder, Cache, and Rich counties. Within those counties, officials reported a 92.2% vaccine rate in kindergarten-age children.

That kind of percentage can’t be overlooked, Mathis said. 

“It gives me a lot of hope that even if we have some pop up, hopefully we’re not going to see it take off like wildfire,” Mathis told KSL NewsRadio.

The numbers mean that 92.2% of kindergarten-age kids in northern Utah are considered either fully vaccinated or are in the process of becoming fully vaccinated, which is important, Mathis said, because it’s more common in their age group. 

“Most people are still getting vaccinated for measles, particularly in those young kids, kindergarten age or younger, they’re getting vaccinated for this disease where we see the most severe disease,” Mathis said.

By comparison, kindergarteners in southwest Utah range between 74.5% and 94.9%, according to the Southwest Utah Public Health Department.

Should people who aren’t vaccinated be concerned?

For the 2024-2025 school year, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services reported that 10% of Utah children were either missing documentation or exempt from the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, otherwise known as MMR.

Mathis said those who are not vaccinated might benefit from following Utah’s wastewater surveillance “so that they know what precautions they may want to take,” he said, “whether that’s … not going to holiday parties or things like that, whatever they choose for themselves to be their acceptable level of risk.”