The Utah Department of Health and Human Services announced on July 11 that an independent testing program has detected measles in wastewater samples collected on July 7 from the Provo area, suggesting that at least one person in the area was recently was sick and serving as a warning that residents should take precautions.
So far, the state’s number of measles cases remains at nine, which included seven from Utah County. Other states are tracking wastewater, including New Mexico and California (Sacramento), reported confirmed infections not long after positive wastewater detections were found.
The alert about more potential measles in Utah comes against the backdrop of record high cases this year since measles was eliminated from the United States in 2000.
More cases in South Dakota and Wyoming
The South Dakota Department of Health recently added 8 more cases to its total, all from Lincoln County, raising its total to 12. A local media report citing the health department said all 8 of the cases are from the same household. Lincoln County is in the southeastern corner of the state and is considered part of the Sioux Falls metropolitan area.
Meanwhile, the Wyoming Department of Health reported a second case in an unvaccinated child from Niobrara County, with no known connection to the first case. So far, the source of the infection isn’t known, and the child may have been in Converse County while infectious.Â
Iowa Health and Human Services reported the state’s seventh case, which involves a vaccinated adult from the eastern part of the state. The patient has no known links to earlier cases and had not recently traveled outside the state.
A few more infections linked to West Texas outbreak
Though the pace of new infections has dropped steeply in the West Texas outbreak, states reporting related cases continue to report more illnesses.
The Texas Department of State Health Services today reported 9 more cases, bringing the state’s outbreak total to 762. The outbreak began in January, with 36 affected counties. However, only one—Lamar—is still reporting ongoing transmission.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment today added one more case to the state’s total, raising the total to 88. The illness is linked to an ongoing outbreak in the southwestern part of the state, which was originally linked to the outbreak in West Texas. Kansas now has 85 outbreak-linked cases.
