More than 2,400 Americans have contracted measles since January of last year — a 25-year record, according to Johns Hopkins University. That means the country is poised to lose its measles "elimination status," which it's held since 2000.
The western US has experienced its fair share of those cases, most notably in Utah and Arizona, which recorded over 360 infections combined. Closer to home, late last year, both Clark and Washoe County reported their first measles cases in residents since 2018. That brings Nevada's official 2025 measles tally to two.
So, going into 2026, can Nevada continue to avoid the large outbreaks hitting neighboring states?
Brian Labus, an epidemiologist with UNLV's School of Public Health, said it's likely.
"We haven't seen outbreaks in Nevada," Labus said. "We don't have these pockets of communities that are not vaccinated, like you see in Arizona and Utah. So I would expect to see kind of more of the same. We will see the occasional case here, but Nevada is actually in a decent place to not have huge outbreaks of measles."
Bolstering the state's safety is its relatively high Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccination rate, which is around 92%. That's just below the 95% needed for herd immunity, but also higher than some other Mountain West states, like Arizona (89.3%), Utah (88.8%), and Idaho (79.6%).
"We have decent immunization rates," Labus said. "If all the people who aren't getting immunized hang out together, it won't pose a huge risk for everybody in the community, but it'll pose a substantial risk for the people that are kind of clustered together. So if you hang out with a bunch of people who are also likely to get the disease, that really ups your risk."
As always, the best way to prevent a measles infection, advised Labus, is to get vaccinated.
Guest: Brian Labus, epidemiologist, UNLV School of Public Health
