No measles cases in Butler County, but Independence Health System chief urges vaccination
A familiar infectious disease is spreading through the country at a rapid pace after a long downturn in cases — measles.
As of Friday, March 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,281 confirmed cases of measles across the United States since the start of 2026. In just over two full months, that’s over half the 2,283 total cases reported in 2025.
While no cases have hit Butler County or the wider Pittsburgh area yet, Dr. Michael Fiorina, chief medical officer for Independence Health System, warns vaccination rates among some Butler County schools might not be high enough to guard against a future local outbreak.
“I was able to get the records from the Butler Area School District on the percentage of people in the Butler Area School District who are vaccinated against measles,” Fiorina said. “In the older grades in the senior high, the amount of people vaccinated are over 96%. In the younger grades, the vaccination rates fall below that 95% threshold. Some grade schools are as low as 77%.”
Fiorina attributes the fall in vaccination rates to widespread misinformation regarding the illness and the vaccine.
“There's a great deal of misinformation going on, and it's making it very difficult to achieve vaccination rates that are effective at keeping these infections at bay,” Fiorina said. “What we see locally is just reflective of what we're seeing nationally.”
Twelve measles cases have been reported in Pennsylvania this year. According to Fiorina, most are in the eastern part of the state.
“So far in 2026 … there have been eight cases in the region between Montgomery County, Lancaster County and Chester County,” Fiorina said. “They were in the Amish population, and we know for a fact that none of those patients were vaccinated.”
The most common symptoms of measles include cough, runny nose, eye irritation and a fever above 100 degrees. Among the less common, but more dangerous, potential symptoms of measles include pneumonia, which can occur in one of 20 cases, and encephalitis — swelling of the brain — which can occur in one out of 600 cases.
“The mortality or death rate in measles is, for every 1,000 people who contract measles, one person will die,” Fiorina said.
The most commonly available vaccine for measles is called MMR, which offers protection for measles, mumps and rubella. Of the confirmed cases of measles across the country so far in 2026, 93% are among those who have not been vaccinated.
“This vaccine has been around for well over 50 years. It has an excellent safety record,” Fiorina said. “The vaccine is given in childhood. You receive the first one between the ages of 12 and 15 months, and then you receive a booster between ages 4 to 6 years old. And after that, the overwhelming majority of people receive lifelong immunity.”
For adults who have not yet received the vaccine, Fiorina recommends getting it as soon as possible, with two shots taken one month apart. However, pregnant women are not recommended to take the vaccine.
“It's what's called a live attenuated vaccine, which means it carries a weakened living form of the virus,” Fiorina said. “We do not want to give it directly to pregnant people.”
For anyone who does contract the illness, Fiorina’s main piece of advice is to stay home and self-isolate.
“You need to isolate,” Fiorina said. “You shouldn't go directly to the emergency room or a fast ER care clinic unless you really feel that you're in immediate danger. My recommendation would be to call your physician and they can arrange for testing for you to be done and that testing should be done in a separate, isolated area so that you don't risk exposing others to it.”
Fiorina also recommends that unvaccinated individuals who have contracted measles get the vaccine within 72 hours.
Above all, Fiorina suggests the public be extra careful where it gets its information about measles or ways to treat it and talk to their medical provider if they have any pressing questions.
“I do realize that people will use the internet and will Google information,” Fiorina said. “I would say my only hesitation is, if whatever website you're on is also selling you something … be very careful with that.”
