Georgia · Atlanta · Public Health
Measles Case Confirmed in Unvaccinated Metro Atlanta Resident, Georgia Department of Public Health Says — Seventh Georgia Case of 2026
The Georgia Department of Public Health has confirmed measles in an unvaccinated resident of metro Atlanta, the agency said Tuesday. DPH said there is no known travel history and no known exposure to someone infected with measles, and that it is working to identify anyone who had contact with the individual while the individual was infectious. Including this case, DPH counted seven measles cases in Georgia in 2026.
Key facts
- What
- Measles confirmed in an unvaccinated person
- Where
- Metro Atlanta. No county, city or neighborhood was released
- Announced
- Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026
- Travel history
- None known at this time, DPH said
- Known exposure
- None known at this time, DPH said
- Contact tracing
- DPH said it is working to identify anyone who had contact with the individual while infectious
- Georgia total, 2026
- Seven cases, including this one
- Georgia total, 2025
- 10 confirmed cases
- Agency
- Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH)
- Identity
- Not released. DPH gave no age, no gender and no description
- What did the Georgia Department of Public Health confirm?
- How does DPH say measles spreads?
- What symptoms does DPH describe, and when do they appear?
- What does DPH say about the MMR vaccine?
- What does DPH tell people with symptoms to do?
- How many measles cases has Georgia had in 2026?
- Which agency handles a confirmed measles case in Georgia?
- What we don’t know yet
- Who else has reported this?
- Frequently asked questions
What did the Georgia Department of Public Health confirm?
The Georgia Department of Public Health — DPH — has confirmed measles in an unvaccinated resident of metro Atlanta, the agency said in a news release dated Tuesday and datelined Atlanta.
Two things in that release stand out. The first: “At this time, there is no known travel history or exposure to someone infected with measles.” The second: DPH said it “is working to identify anyone who may have had contact with the individual while the individual was infectious.”
That is the whole of what the state agency said about the person and the circumstances. The release does not name the individual. It gives no county, no city, no neighborhood, no age and no gender. It names no school, no workplace, no hospital and no exposure site. It does not say when symptoms began or what the person’s condition is now.
The rest of the release is guidance from DPH and from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about measles itself and about the MMR vaccine. It is reported below as the agencies stated it.
How does DPH say measles spreads?
Through the air. “Measles is very contagious and spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes,” DPH said in the release.
The agency added a detail that explains why contact tracing on a measles case reaches beyond the people who were standing next to the patient: the measles virus, DPH said, “can stay in the air or on surfaces for up to two hours after an infected person has left the room.”
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What symptoms does DPH describe, and when do they appear?
DPH said measles symptoms typically appear 7 to 14 days after exposure. The agency listed high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes. Then, DPH said, a rash of tiny red spots appears — starting at the head and spreading to the rest of the body.
| Stage | What DPH stated in its Aug. 18, 2026 release |
|---|---|
| After exposure | Symptoms typically appear 7 to 14 days later |
| First symptoms | High fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes |
| Then | A rash of tiny red spots appears |
| Rash pattern | Starts at the head and spreads to the rest of the body |
What does DPH say about the MMR vaccine?
The release carries the agency’s position in its own title: the MMR vaccine is safe and effective in preventing measles. In the body, DPH said the MMR — measles, mumps, rubella — vaccine can prevent measles and rubella, that the vaccine is safe and effective, and that parents with questions about the vaccine or the vaccination schedule can consult their physician.
On effectiveness, DPH put numbers to it: more than 95% of the people who receive a single dose of MMR will develop immunity to all three viruses, and a second dose boosts immunity, typically enhancing protection to 98%.
DPH also stated the CDC’s recommended schedule: a first dose of MMR between 12 and 15 months of age, and a second dose between 4 and 6 years of age. For babies aged 6 to 11 months who are traveling internationally, the recommendation as stated by DPH is a single dose before travel, followed by two additional doses after the child’s first birthday.
And DPH made a point about people other than the person vaccinated: individuals who are vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, the agency said, also help protect others who are too young or medically unable to be vaccinated.
All of the above is DPH’s statement and the CDC recommendation as DPH reported it. The Local Alert is not a health agency and offers no medical guidance of its own.
What does DPH tell people with symptoms to do?
Heads up on the phrasing here, because DPH set part of it in capital letters. The agency said people with measles symptoms should contact their healthcare provider immediately, and then: “DO NOT go to the doctor’s office, the hospital, or a public health clinic without first calling to let them know about your symptoms.”
DPH addressed clinicians separately, saying healthcare providers who suspect measles in a patient should notify public health immediately.
Those are the agency’s instructions, quoted as DPH issued them.
How many measles cases has Georgia had in 2026?
“Including this case, there have been seven measles cases in Georgia in 2026,” DPH said. The agency also said there were 10 confirmed measles cases in Georgia in 2025.
DPH has announced this year’s cases through its own press-release page as they were confirmed. Its published record for 2026 runs as follows.
| Date of DPH release | Release title as published by DPH |
|---|---|
| Jan. 12, 2026 | DPH Confirms Measles Case in Georgia |
| Feb. 23, 2026 | DPH Confirms Measles Case in Georgia |
| May 19, 2026 | DPH Confirms Three New Measles Cases in Georgia - MMR Vaccine is Safe and Effective in Preventing Measles |
| Aug. 18, 2026 | DPH Confirms Measles Case in Georgia - MMR Vaccine is Safe and Effective in Preventing Measles |
Those four releases describe six cases between them, counting Tuesday’s. DPH puts the 2026 total at seven. The release does not break down where the remaining case falls in the sequence, and we are not going to guess at it.
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Which agency handles a confirmed measles case in Georgia?
The Georgia Department of Public Health. DPH is the state agency that confirmed this case, that issued the announcement, and that said it is working to identify the individual’s contacts from the infectious period.
DPH is also the agency clinicians were told to contact: the release instructs healthcare providers who suspect measles in a patient to notify public health immediately. Georgia’s public health work is carried out through DPH and its regional public health districts, but the Aug. 18 release does not name a district, a county board of health or any local office as handling this case. It names only DPH.
This report is part of The Local Alert’s ongoing Atlanta, GA coverage. In separate metro-area public-health news the same day, a seventh DeKalb County mosquito trap tested positive for West Nile virus, in ZIP code 30329. The two are unrelated; different viruses, different agencies, different routes of transmission.
What we don’t know yet
- The county. DPH said “metro Atlanta” and nothing narrower.
- The city, the neighborhood or any ZIP code.
- The person’s age and gender. DPH released neither.
- The person’s current condition, and whether they were hospitalized.
- The date symptoms began, the date the case was confirmed, and the dates that make up the infectious period.
- Any exposure location. DPH named no school, workplace, clinic, store, airport or public venue.
- How the person was infected. DPH said there is no known travel history and no known exposure to an infected person.
- Any detail about vaccination beyond the single word DPH used: unvaccinated.
- How many contacts DPH has identified, or whether any contact has been asked to quarantine.
- Where the seventh 2026 case sits in DPH’s published release sequence, which accounts for six.
Who else has reported this?
The primary source for this report is the DPH release itself, linked above and below. It is a state agency statement, not a second-hand account.
WRDW/WAGT in Augusta, a Gray station, published its own story Tuesday afternoon reporting the same DPH facts.
11Alive, the Tegna station in Atlanta, is also listed as covering the case. We are not citing it: the page returns a 403 to our reader, so its body was not readable to us, and we will not attribute a fact to a page we could not open.
So this article rests on a primary state agency release plus one readable secondary outlet. Anything not in one of those two places is not in this report.
Frequently asked questions
What did the Georgia Department of Public Health confirm?
DPH said it has confirmed measles in an unvaccinated resident of metro Atlanta. The agency announced the case in a news release dated Aug. 18, 2026, with an Atlanta dateline.
Where in metro Atlanta is the case?
DPH said only that the person is a resident of metro Atlanta. The release names no county, no city, no neighborhood and no location where an exposure may have happened.
Did the person have a travel history or a known exposure to measles?
DPH said that at this time there is no known travel history or exposure to someone infected with measles.
Is anyone tracing the person's contacts?
Yes. DPH said it is working to identify anyone who may have had contact with the individual while the individual was infectious. The release does not say how many contacts have been identified.
How does DPH say measles spreads?
DPH said measles is very contagious and spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The agency said the measles virus can stay in the air or on surfaces for up to two hours after an infected person has left the room.
What symptoms does DPH describe, and how soon do they appear?
DPH said measles symptoms typically appear 7 to 14 days after exposure, including high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes. The agency said a rash of tiny red spots then appears, starting at the head and spreading to the rest of the body.
How many measles cases has Georgia had in 2026?
Seven, including this case, DPH said. The agency said there were 10 confirmed measles cases in Georgia in 2025.
What does DPH say people with measles symptoms should do?
DPH said people with measles symptoms should contact their healthcare provider immediately, and wrote in capital letters: DO NOT go to the doctor's office, the hospital, or a public health clinic without first calling to let them know about your symptoms. The agency also said healthcare providers who suspect measles in a patient should notify public health immediately. That is the agency's instruction, reported here as DPH issued it.
What does DPH say about the MMR vaccine?
DPH said the MMR vaccine can prevent measles and rubella, and that the vaccine is safe and effective. The agency said more than 95% of people who receive a single dose will develop immunity to all three viruses, and that a second dose boosts immunity, typically enhancing protection to 98%. DPH said parents with questions about the vaccine or the vaccination schedule can consult their physician.
Sources
- Georgia Department of Public Health — “DPH Confirms Measles Case in Georgia - MMR Vaccine is Safe and Effective in Preventing Measles,” news release dated Aug. 18, 2026, dateline Atlanta.
- WRDW/WAGT — “Measles makes a reappearance with new case in Georgia,” published 4:14 p.m. ET, Aug. 18, 2026.
Compiled by The Local Alert Georgia Staff from the sources linked above. The primary source is the Georgia Department of Public Health’s own news release of Aug. 18, 2026. WRDW/WAGT (Gray Media) reported the same DPH facts and is the one readable secondary outlet. 11Alive (Tegna) also covered the story, but the page was not readable to us and nothing here is attributed to it. Every recommendation about measles or the MMR vaccine in this report is DPH’s statement, or the CDC recommendation as DPH stated it, and is reported as such. The Local Alert is not a health agency, not a law enforcement agency and not a law firm. Corrections and removal requests: see our corrections policy.
Reported and fact-checked as of .
Every source linked here was opened and verified at that time. This report reflects what was known and confirmed at that moment — it is not updated automatically as the story develops. For the current status, contact the agency named above.
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We report from named outlets and public records, and every fact here is linked to its source. If something is inaccurate — a date, a number, a name, a figure quoted from an agency — tell us and we will correct it and note the correction.