Health Department confirms a small number of measles cases in Orleans County
The Orleans County Courthouse in Newport, the county shire town where a small number of measles cases were confirmed in November. Photo: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Vermont Department of Health confirmed a small number of measles cases in Orleans County on Nov. 9 and said the risk to the general public remained low while an investigation continued.
In a department release that afternoon, Health Commissioner Dr. Rick Hildebrant said officials were “currently offering testing, vaccination and health guidance and remain in communication with the people involved.” The State Public Health Laboratory confirmed the results that same day, and the department sent additional guidance to health care providers on recognizing and reporting measles.
In an interview with Vermont Public published in a Nov. 10 update, Hildebrant said the count remained “less than five” for now but called the situation “evolving.” He said the illness was believed to have been contracted when people traveled out of state but still inside the United States.
“We have the risk of seeing person-to-person transmission within the state of Vermont. We have not seen that yet. But I am fearful that we might,” he told the station.
Vermont last detected a measles case in February, the department said, and documented two cases in 2025 and two in 2024. In the decade before that, officials recorded one case in 2011 and one in 2018. VTDigger, citing department data, reported that 94% of children in independent and public schools have been fully vaccinated against measles before kindergarten, though the figure does not include homeschooled children or those not yet in school. In most Orleans Central Supervisory Union schools, more than 90% of students were in full MMR compliance, the newspaper said, while Albany Community School and Orleans Elementary School stood at 86% and 88%. The department has said herd immunity requires 95% immunization.
Department spokesperson Kyle Casteel told VTDigger that epidemiologists were in the field and that North Country Hospital in Newport and Copley Hospital in Morrisville are the closest hospitals for most of Orleans County. He declined to give a precise case count, citing patient privacy. Dr. Tracy Tyson, a St. Albans pediatrician and president of the Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the newspaper she takes the state’s advisory “much more seriously” than earlier situations in which cases were only suspected.
The department urged Vermonters, especially children, to make sure they are vaccinated. CDC data cited in the state release show that 11% of people who tested positive for measles in the last two years needed to be hospitalized. Vermont Public, citing the CDC, reported a separate national figure: about 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who get measles are hospitalized. Hildebrant told the station a single MMR dose protects 93% against measles and two doses protect 97%. Measles shots are free in Vermont, even for people without insurance, Vermont Public reported.
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