Decorah School District issues message about measles after first confirmed case in eight years is reported in NE Iowa

The Iowa Department of Public Health is announcing that a Northeast Iowa resident has been confirmed by lab tests to be infected with measles.

The individual was not identified because of privacy rules.  However, the state said the man was unvaccinated and recently returned from Israel, where measles transmission is occurring.  The individual has cooperated with public health officials. Public health officials said at this time there is no indication there is any threat to the public.

Nevertheless, the Decorah School district has sent an e-mail to its students and their parents from School Nurse Julie Goedken, RN, which says the report of a measles case in NE Iowa "is a good reminder to make sure that your family's vaccines are up to date.  The measles vaccine is highly effective (the patient with measles was not vaccinated) and all school-aged children should have two MMR doses by the time they start kindergarten."

Goedken added that if a case of measles is identified in one of the Decorah schools, public health officials will require all unvaccinated students and staff to remain at home until 21 days after their last possible exposure to measles. 

For more information on measles, visit: https://idph.iowa.gov/cade/disease-information/measles.