Four more measles cases confirmed in Penobscot County

Four additional measles cases in Penobscot County were confirmed this week, ten days after the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported Maine’s first case of the highly contagious respiratory illness since 2019.

The new cases don’t yet constitute an outbreak — which Maine defines as three or more cases in unrelated households that share an epidemiological link — and there are no new risks of exposure to the public, the Maine CDC confirmed. 

All four new cases are among unvaccinated people, according to the public health agency. Measles is considered highly contagious; 90% of non-immune people close to a confirmed measles patient will become infected, the Maine CDC said.

The agency also announced its new measles dashboard for tracking case and outbreak numbers along with hospitalizations. So far, one person has been hospitalized for measles, which can cause fever, rashes and cough. 

The disease was considered eliminated nationwide in 2000. But since January 2025, there have been thousands of confirmed cases in 44 states, mostly among children, according to Harvard Medical School. That’s the largest number of cases in more than two decades.

So far in 2026, there are more than 900 confirmed cases of the highly contagious respiratory illness, which can be serious or even fatal, across 24 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Maine’s initial case is the first confirmed report of measles in New England this year. Last year, measles cases were confirmed in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont, according to federal health data.