Officials identified at least 13 people in Kentucky who are confirmed to have measles as of Monday. In a brief statement on the state’s measles dashboard, the Kentucky Department of Public Health said “additional cases and exposures are being investigated.”
Outbreaks of the highly contagious respiratory disease are becoming increasingly common across the country. This marks Kentucky’s second outbreak of the year, after four cases of the potentially life-threatening virus cropped up in Jessamine County in January.
Most of the state’s measles cases come from the most recent outbreak beginning in July and August centered in Christian County with cases in surrounding counties. The most recent case presented in an unvaccinated Kentuckian who may have been exposed by an out-of-state visitor. All of this year’s 17 confirmed cases are among unvaccinated Kentuckians or those with unknown vaccination status. Last year, Kentuckians saw 13 cases of measles…