JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – According to state health data, four cases of measles have now been reported in Duval County in 2026.
Dr. Mobeen Rathore, a pediatric infectious disease doctor in Jacksonville, explained on my 10 a.m. streaming show on News4JAX+ that just three cases, “by definition, is an outbreak.”
At least two of the cases in Jacksonville involve pediatric patients from the same home. Details have not been released on the other two.
An adult in St. Johns County was also reported to have the measles in January.
According to the state database, there are currently seven cases of measles in Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database, however, shows nine cases in the Sunshine State, through Jan. 29.
Only eight cases of measles were reported in Florida in all of 2025.
Rathore explained that the symptoms of measles, at first, are very similar to those of any other viral infection.
“Symptoms include fever, rash, cough,” he said. “You will have a runny nose, red watery eyes. It is very difficult early on to differentiate it from many other viral infections that people can get.”
He said the incubation period for measles is one reason measles is “one of the most contagious infections.”
“You can be in the same room or the same aircraft or the same store and you can get the measles infection from that person who’s infected,” Rathore said. “And so you could have been exposed, but you don’t even realize it for a week, maybe even longer.”
He warned that one measles patient can infect nine to 10 other people.
“I think that is why in a disease like measles, which is highly contagious, there is no treatment for it, but there’s a vaccine that is very effective, that can prevent the disease,” Rathore said. “Anybody who’s unvaccinated not only puts themselves at risk, but will also put other people who they come in contact with at risk.”
Press play above to watch Dr. Rathore’s full interview
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