Alabama has recorded its first measles case in more than 20 years, the Alabama Department of Public Health confirmed Monday. The patient is a child younger than five from north Alabama who became ill after traveling outside the United States.

Health officials at the ADPH stated that the child had not received a measles vaccine. The child is not enrolled in daycare or school, and medical providers involved in the case have already been notified. The child’s siblings were vaccinated and have shown no symptoms, according to the ADPH.

It is the first confirmed case of measles in the state since 2002. Vaccination rates in Alabama have been slipping in recent years, with 93.8 percent of kindergartners vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella in 2023-24, just shy of the 95 percent coverage

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