Montana health officials warn of severe risks as Fergus County confirms measles case

Some health experts say Montanans are at risk of measles with declining vaccination rates, and Fergus County confirmed this month a case of measles.

Measles is a highly contagious disease, but two vaccination doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are 97% effective, according to the Fergus County Health Department and other health officials.

Montana has counted six measles cases this year, according to a dashboard of the state Department of Public Health and Human Services.

In March, Lewis and Clark County had five cases, according to the dashboard. Flathead County issued a warning last month of a possible exposure, but it had no cases, the county confirmed Monday.

Friday, a news release from Fergus County said the local health department confirmed a case that had potential exposures.

The possible exposures were at the Amtrak station in Malta at 2:20 p.m. Sept. 24, and at Evergreen Wood Products in Moore on Sept. 25.

Measles spreads mainly through the air. The news release from Fergus County says droplets with the virus that are released in coughs, sneezes or talking can remain in the air for as long as two hours.

“This means someone can get measles even without direct contact with the infected person,” Fergus County said in the news release.

When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated, most residents are shielded from measles, but vaccine rates are dropping, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services spokesperson Jon Ebelt did not respond to a request Monday for the estimated portion of Montanans who are immunized against measles.

Providence, a health care organization that operates major hospitals in Montana and beyond, said in a news update this year that declining measles vaccination rates are putting Montanans at risk.

The update from Providence didn’t quantify the decline in Montana, but a CDC survey of 347 2-year-olds in Montana from 2021-2023 shows the rate was 86.3%.

The CDC said the vaccination rate among kindergartners nationally has dropped from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.4% in 2025-2026.

In Idaho, an estimated 75.2% of kindergartners were fully vaccinated for measles last school year; in Wyoming, it was 92.6%; in North Dakota, 88.5%; and in South Dakota, 89.3%, according to the CDC.

In 2021, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 334, which removed local and state health department access to student immunization records and deemed them private, among other provisions.

A spokesperson for the Governor’s Office could not be reached Monday afternoon by email about whether the governor would support a reinstatement of the health department’s access to those records given the threat of measles.