ST. GEORGE, Utah — If the ongoing measles outbreak has a hub, it can be found in southwest Utah. Two-thirds of cases in the current epidemic stem from the five-county area of the state, with people wondering what's being done to combat the measles spread.
"I guess it really comes down to we try everything we can to educate. We do disease surveillance. We have epidemiologists, but it really comes down to personal responsibility," explained David Heaton with the Southwest Utah Public Health Department.
Until this year, Heaton said it had been 18 years since the last recorded case of measles in southwest Utah.
"We have 14 exposure sites right now here in Washington County that include churches, hospitals, stores, schools of people that had measles, maybe didn't even know it," Heaton said.
The entire Utah Tech University campus is an exposure site, something students we talked to were unaware of.
"I didn't know it was here," said student Zach Nelson. "I just heard it was going around. I didn't hear too much stuff, though."
High school wrestling teams see rise in measles cases after state meet:
High school wrestlers from southwest Utah are also being pointed to as the source of a large measles exposure at the state wrestling championships at Utah Valley University over Valentine's Day weekend.
"That you have an event like that or a transportation hub, the opportunity to spread disease is present," explained Candice DeMatteis, Vice President and Policy Director for the Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease
As measles spreads throughout the state, there is a sense of frustration among health officials in southwest Utah.
"Honestly, it's frustrating because we have the information that would help us to avoid this," said DeMatteis, "to avoid the suffering, to avoid sick children, to avoid the upheaval.
"Measles is the canary in the coal mine to many in the public health community."
