Public Health Officials Warn Of Potential Exposure After New Measles Case Confirmed In Fulton County

By Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder

September 15, 2025

The Georgia Department of Public Health has confirmed a new case of measles in an unvaccinated Fulton County resident, and the department is working to contact people who may have been exposed.

DPH officials believe exposures may have occurred between Sept. 2 and 11 at Georgia State University, Sweetgreen Restaurant in Atlanta and at youth soccer practices and games.

This case represents the seventh case of measles in Georgia this year, while other states have been dealing with larger outbreaks.

Last year, Georgia had six cases of measles. Before that, except for 2019 when there were 18 cases, Georgia has had little to no confirmed cases of measles for the last 15 years.

Measles symptoms appear within one to two weeks of exposure and can include high fever, runny nose and watery eyes before a rash of tiny red spots breaks out, usually starting at the head and spreading to the rest of the body.

The virus can lead to severe complications, especially for groups including young children and pregnant women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five unvaccinated people who gets measles in the U.S. is hospitalized. About one child out of every thousand who gets measles will develop encephalitis, a swelling of the brain that can lead to intellectual disabilities.

Between one and three out of every thousand children who get measles will die from respiratory or neurologic complications, the CDC finds.

Measles is preventable with the MMR vaccine, which also protects against mumps and rubella, a routine vaccination recommended for all children. But health experts worry that growing vaccine skepticism could contribute to the spread of preventable diseases like measles.

In Georgia, 88.4% of incoming kindergarteners had gotten their MMR shots during the 2023-2024 school year, according to CDC data – that’s down from 94% 10 years prior and 99.6% in the 2009-2019 school year.

The Georgia Recorder, an independent, nonprofit news organization, connects public policies to stories of the people and communities affected by them through a steady mix of in-depth reporting, blog posts, and social media updates on the latest news and progressive commentary. The Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.