The Marquette County Health Department confirmed a case of measles in a Marquette County resident on Thursday.

Because the virus that causes measles can remain infectious in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves the area, individuals who were present at the following locations may have been exposed:

– Moonspun Wool, 219 W. Washington St., Marquette on Monday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Wednesday, May 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

– Marquette Food Co-op, 502 W. Washington St., Marquette on Tuesday, May 20 from 6-10 p.m.

– Midas, 2192 U.S. 41, Marquette on Wednesday, May 21 from noon to 2:30 p.m.

Anyone who had visited these locations during the stated time frames should contact the MCHD at 906-475-9977 and monitor themselves for 21 days. If any symptoms develop, stay away from other people and call ahead to to inform doctors about your potential measles exposure before visiting a doctor, urgent care or emergency room so they can take precautions to prevent the spread.

Symptoms of measles can include high fever; cough; runny nose; red/watery eyes; white spots on the inner cheeks, gums and roof of the mouth; a rash that is red, raised and blotchy that usually starts on the face and spreads to the arms and legs 3-5 days after symptoms begin.

While this shouldn’t have you panicked, you should definitely start to be vigilant and keep updated on any future cases in the area.

For some, vaccination has turned into a political topic rather than a medical one. This is a shame.

The recent uptick in measles cases around the United States, responsible for over 1,100 cases in the United States this year as of Friday, largely comes from a failure to vaccinate.

2025 is already the second most active year for measles infections in the United States since 2000, when measles was considered eliminated in the country due to the incredibly high success rate of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control say that the MMR vaccine is 97% effective and cases over the past few decades since the vaccine became widely available go to show that to be the case.

While 1,125 cases may not seem like a lot, measles is highly contagious and not something to mess around with.

We hope that this local case will be a wake up call to everyone to start taking proper precautions and considering vaccination if you have not already had it.