On Saturday, the Rhode Island Department of Health confirmed the state’s first measles case of 2026. The state’s last confirmed measles case was in January 2025 — the first since 2013.
The patient — a man in his 40s who recently returned from a trip abroad — is currently recovering at home. RIDOH, the Atmed Treatment Center in Johnston and the Division of Global Migration Health in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working to identify and notify those who may have been exposed. People who were at Providence bakery Panadería El Quetzal between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. last Wednesday were potentially exposed.
According to RIDOH epidemiologist and Medical Director Suzanne Bornschein, the chances of this case leading to a more severe outbreak is low due to high rates of vaccine coverage in the state. Around 97% of kindergarteners are fully vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella.
To prevent the disease from spreading, a community has to have a vaccination rate over 95%, according to Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center and a professor of epidemiology.
“I feel so incredibly fortunate that Rhode Island has such high (vaccine) coverage,” Nuzzo said, applauding state immunization efforts. “Measles is one of the most contagious diseases we have.”
The measles virus can remain in a room up to two hours after the infectious patient has left. Those infected are contagious four days before and after the disease’s signature rash appears, according to Bornschein.
RIDOH attempts to track and follow up with everyone who made contact with the measles patient, keeping an eye on exposed patients for the length of the virus’s 21-day incubation period — the time a pathogen takes to show symptoms.
Unvaccinated patients can receive treatment in the form of a post-exposure vaccine within 72 hours of contact, which can reduce chances of sickness. Those who are immunocompromised or too young for the vaccine can receive antibodies up to six days after exposure.
Contact tracing “takes a lot of staff hours,” Bornschein said, and the numbers are “never small.”
The FIFA World Cup this summer is expected to attract a million visitors, both domestic and international, to Rhode Island — which has the potential to bring travelers with measles, Bornschein said. RIDOH has begun preparing healthcare providers on identifying and responding to highly contagious pathogens.
It can be difficult for a physician to diagnose measles immediately, according to Michael Koster — the director for the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatrics — because early-stage measles resembles a normal cold. The main symptoms are a fever, cough and runny nose.
Measles has no cure, but “the good news is we have a vaccine that works,” Koster said. Because the measles virus does not mutate like the flu or COVID-19, the vaccine confers “a life-long protection.” But if even 1% of the around 4 million children born in the United States every year are unvaccinated, 40,000 children are at risk of infection, Koster said.
Koster stressed that vaccines are recommended for infants as young as six months old, especially if they are travelling to areas with high rates of measles — including countries like Mexico and Canada or some states including Utah and Texas.
Since Rhode Island’s last measles case, the United States has seen thousands of new measles cases at higher and higher rates. According to CDC data, there were 2,288 confirmed cases in 2025 — and as of April 16, 1,748 confirmed cases in 2026.
“We’re living in a period where measles outbreaks become the new normal, which is incredibly costly,” Nuzzo said. “It’s deadly, it’s costly and it is a hard burden for health care and public health systems to bear.”
“Even in a state like Rhode Island, where the MMR coverage is high and we have a world class state health department … even in a place like this, we can still see measles cases that will be costly and threaten health in the state,” Nuzzo added.
“Global health impacts us locally, too,” said Sadie Allspaw ’28, advocacy lead in the club Partners in Health Engage.
“Measles is highly preventable with the vaccine,” she added. “In that way, it’s just a disease of injustice.”
Talia is a metro section editor covering the health and environment and community and culture beats. She is a sophomore from Bethesda, MD studying history and international and public affairs. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Providence one wrong turn at a time.
