JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Only Action News Jax\u2019s Ben Becker has learned there is now a fifth confirmed measles case in Duval County — a case that has not yet been publicly reported by the State of Florida.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n Action News Jax obtained emails sent Saturday by Jacksonville\u2019s Chief Health Officer, Dr. Sunil Joshi, to local hospitals and healthcare leaders calling the five cases an \u201coutbreak\u201d and urging healthcare staff to ensure they are vaccinated.<\/p>\n \u2018Yes, this is an outbreak\u2019<\/p>\n Joshi confirmed that Duval County has now recorded five measles cases so far this year.<\/p>\n \u201cSo yes, this is an outbreak,\u201d Joshi said.<\/p>\n He emphasized that any spread of a highly contagious disease is taken seriously by public health officials.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are always concerned about any communicable diseases,\u201d Joshi told Becker in an interview Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n Emails urge vaccination and safety measures<\/p>\n In emails sent Saturday to multiple healthcare providers — including Baptist Health, UF Health and Ascension St. Vincent\u2019s — Joshi urged hospitals and medical facilities to take immediate steps to protect both staff and patients.<\/p>\n \u201cIn light of this outbreak, we remind you that health care facilities should recommend that all health care personnel, regardless of birth year, who are unvaccinated and who lack laboratory evidence of measles immunity or laboratory confirmation of disease receive two doses of MMR vaccine at the appropriate interval,\u201d Joshi wrote.<\/p>\n Joshi said the decision to send the guidance was driven by the outbreak designation.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u201cSince it\u2019s technically an outbreak, it\u2019s important for hospital systems to be aware of that and to protect their own employees as well as the patients that come into the facilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The emails also encouraged hospitals and providers to post signs outside entrances advising patients with fever and rash symptoms to remain outside and request an initial medical evaluation before entering.<\/p>\n \u201cThis measure can help reduce potential exposure within healthcare settings,\u201d the email states.<\/p>\n What patients and parents should know<\/p>\n According to Joshi, patients who are concerned they may have measles can receive testing at a local laboratory with a provider\u2019s order.<\/p>\n He also stressed that parents should take the outbreak seriously, especially when it comes to vaccination rates.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would worry me if immunization rates drop and people have measles in schools in particular,\u201d Joshi said.<\/p>\n Questions about state reporting<\/p>\n Action News Jax previously reported that Jacksonville was leading the state in measles cases with four confirmed infections.<\/p>\n However, Florida\u2019s online data currently shows 15 measles cases statewide so far in 2026 \u2014 and still lists only four cases in Duval County. The state data reviewed by Action News Jax does not include infections identified anywhere in Florida during the month of February.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n When asked about the timing of public reporting, Joshi said investigations can delay when information is released.<\/p>\n \u201cThe county is doing everything it can,\u201d Joshi said. \u201cBut you have to keep in mind, while they are investigating cases, it becomes difficult to publicly message about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Only Action News Jax\u2019s Ben Becker has learned there is now a fifth confirmed measles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,26442,19137,347,70271,28,72920,348,116,351,118,117,72919,72921,349,350,7457,346,345],"class_list":["post-150996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-action-news-jax","tag-ascension-st-vincents","tag-baptist-health","tag-cbs47","tag-dr-sunil-joshi","tag-florida","tag-florida-measles","tag-fox30","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-fl","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jacksonvilles-chief-health-officer-dr-sunil-joshi","tag-measles-cases-in-florida","tag-northeast-florida","tag-southeast-georgia","tag-uf-health","tag-wfox","tag-wjax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}