Feb. 2, 2026, University of Wisconsin students received an email from University Health Services informing them that a student on campus had a confirmed case of measles. The email included a list of exposure locations and times.
As of Feb. 16, 2026, there are no new measles cases reported on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Dashboard. Even though measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, it is currently making a comeback, with 910 confirmed cases across the country in 2026 so far, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Because measles symptoms are severe and the illness is very contagious even before symptoms appear, measles is one of around 100 “reportable diseases” in Wisconsin, according to Professor of Population Health Sciences Ajay Sethi. Once a student is reported to have a communicable, reportable disease like measles, UW has its own authority to investigate the outbreak, according to Sethi.
“Because we [UW] are large and have a very capable team at University Health Services, they have the public health authority to investigate outwards on campus,” Sethi said.
Yet, UHS does not work alone on these investigations. They partner with Public Health Madison & Dane County, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (also a part of UW), and other Dane County partners, according to Sethi.
When a student is found to have a reportable disease, UHS will confirm the diagnosis through laboratory testing and take a detailed history of the patient, according to Sethi. With measles, for example, contact tracing is important, because measles’ long incubation period means it can take up to a few weeks to know if it has spread beyond the initial patient, according to Sethi.
“With measles, we’ve got the one case [as of Feb. 5], but it’s going to take a few weeks to find out if that person has spread the virus unknowingly to someone else that wasn’t immunized,” Sethi said.
PHMDC also has a communicable disease team that interviews the patient to establish a timeline for possible spread, according their communications coordinator Morgan Finke. This team sometimes has multiple interviews with the patient in order to get a full picture, and contact tracers will call specific people who are known to have been exposed, according to Finke.
“Contact tracers have a tough job…[They] are hard at work helping keep our community safe and healthy,” Finke said in an email.
PHMDC and UW work closely together when there is an outbreak on campus, according to Finke. After the campus measles case, their teams spoke daily to collaborate and share information. Even their communications teams kept in close contact, according to Finke.
“[The PHMDC] team has been working in lockstep with UW to ensure in-depth collaboration,” Finke said in an email.
When a person has a disease like the cold or flu, an immediate public health response isn’t necessary because people tend to be infectious when they’re symptomatic, according to Sethi. Measles warrants a public health response because it is very infectious, even before symptoms appear, according to Finke. Influenza, for example, requires regular, direct contact with an infected person, but someone unvaccinated for measles can catch it simply from being in the same room as an infected person, according to Finke.
Influenza transmission can be limited effectively by washing hands and wearing masks, according to Sethi. It’s mostly spread through droplets from coughing or sneezing, according to Finke. Measles, on the other hand, can stay in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has left, according to Finke.
“If one person has [measles], up to 90% of the people close to them will also become infected if they are not protected,” Finke said in an email.
The measles vaccine is very effective, according to the CDC. A person is unlikely to get measles if they are vaccinated, according to Sethi. Yet, measles vaccinations are not up to herd immunity levels in Wisconsin, which leaves the population, especially the unvaccinated, vulnerable, Sethi said.
“[Measles is] not going to spread to people immediately from just one person. But, here in Dane County, we’re not at the 95% level that we need to prevent measles transmission,” Sethi said.
This is why the public is informed of various locations that a contagious person has been, according to Sethi. The messaging has to be broad, because public health offices don’t know who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t, Sethi said.
Finke recommends that Wisconsinites check their vaccination statuses and ensure that they have the recommended measles vaccinations. Wisconsin residents can check the Wisconsin Immunization Registry to check their status.
UHS declined the request to comment but noted that UW has a dedicated webpage with updates on the measles outbreak. Students can also follow measles cases in Wisconsin via the measles webpage on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website.
