Health officials in Vermont say they have confirmed a case of measles in a school-aged child in Lamoille County who recently traveled internationally with their family.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Vermont Department of Health said the child has been isolated while they are contagious and the “risk to the public is believed to be low.”
The health department said the child tested positive for measles Monday night and one site of known exposure is at Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Vt., where the child was evaluated on Sunday. The hospital has notified people who visited the emergency department during that time, health officials said.
Lamoille County is in northern Vermont. Morrisville, a village within the town of Morristown, sits about 30 miles east of Burlington, Vt.
Officials noted that the child’s case of measles is not tied to the three ongoing measles outbreaks in the U.S. or the outbreak in Quebec.
Further details of the child’s condition were not released.
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Health officials said this is the first confirmed case of measles in Vermont this year. The state had two confirmed cases in 2024 and two in the prior decade, with one in 2018 and one in 2011, according to the state health department.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that can cause serious illness, especially in children younger than 5 years old, officials said in the statement. Symptoms typically begin with a cough, runny nose, watery eyes, and a high fever, with a rash of flat spots that break out on the head and face before spreading to other parts of the body, officials said.
Vermont health officials urged anyone who visited the Copley Hospital emergency department between 3:15 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday to monitor themselves for symptoms through March 30. Those who have symptoms should call their health care provider but should not visit their office without notifying them first, officials said.
“The Health Department is also urging people in Vermont to make sure their family is vaccinated against measles – especially children,” the statement said. “It’s particularly important if you plan to travel outside of the United States.”
The Vermont health department said about one in five unvaccinated people in the U.S. who get measles are hospitalized.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported more than 200 cases of measles nationally this year, largely driven by three outbreaks which have led to two recent deaths in Texas and New Mexico, the Vermont Department of Health said.
The U.S. had 285 confirmed cases of measles in 2024 and 58 cases in 2023, the statement said.
“Health officials attribute this, in part, to an increase in the number of unvaccinated people, which impacts community immunity,” Vermont health officials said in the statement.
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.