25 cases of measles have been reported in North Carolina since Dec. 2025, and a person infected with the measles virus was reported to have visited many local Raleigh areas while still contagious on Feb. 6.
Matt Koci, a professor of virology and immunology, said the measles virus is the most contagious virus that experts know of.
“It causes respiratory disease, but the cells of the body that attack one of the cells and it wipes out are the cells whose job it is to remember other infections you’ve seen,” Koci said. “So it can actually delete parts of your immune system that are what give you protection from either previous vaccines, or even previous infections you’ve had, where your immune systems learned how to respond to them. Measles can wipe those out and actually end up making you susceptible to things you’ve previously been immune to for years later.”…