A measles outbreak spreading through Buckingham County has infected at least 17 people as of Thursday, prompting health officials to warn that additional cases are likely still unidentified, and highlighting childhood vaccination gaps across parts of Central Virginia. WMRA’s Anjoleigh Schindler reports.
In a statewide alert issued May 13 to healthcare providers, the Virginia Department of Health, or VDH, said none of the infected patients reported recent travel, suggesting the virus is spreading locally. Health officials urged providers in Buckingham County and surrounding areas to maintain a “high index of suspicion” for measles symptoms, and encouraged accelerated vaccination efforts.
The following day, Buckingham County Public Schools informed families that there were no confirmed measles cases within the division, but they had already begun reviewing student immunization records and contacting families of students who may not be fully immunized.
The outbreak arrives more than two decades after measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 — a milestone achieved through widespread vaccination campaigns that dramatically reduced a disease that once infected millions of Americans annually. Before the measles vaccine became available in 1963, the virus caused hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of hospitalizations each year nationwide.
Now, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, say the return of outbreaks in places like Texas, New York, and now Virginia reflects a complicated mix of declining vaccination rates, pandemic-era healthcare disruptions, misinformation, and pockets of vulnerability within communities.
Measles is among the most contagious viruses known. The virus spreads through respiratory droplets and can remain suspended in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a room. About 90% of non-immune people exposed to measles will become infected, according to the CDC.
Because measles spreads so efficiently, epidemiologists say communities generally need vaccination rates above 95% to prevent outbreaks through “community immunity.”
Dr. Lisa M. Lee, an epidemiologist and bioethicist at Virginia Tech says —
DR. LISA M. LEE: We used to use the term herd immunity. We use a nicer term now, community immunity. … Because this particular virus is so contagious, we are looking at what public health gets worried about is any community that has fewer than 95% of people immunized.
State data suggests some Central Virginia communities are falling below that threshold.
In the Piedmont Health District — which includes Buckingham and Cumberland counties, and much of Virginia’s southside — nearly 9% of kindergarteners had incomplete measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination records at the beginning of the 2024–25 school year. About 4% of seventh graders had incomplete records.
Other nearby districts reported even higher rates. In the Central Virginia Health District, which covers Lynchburg and areas just east of Roanoke, roughly 15% of kindergarteners, including those at private schools, had incomplete MMR vaccination records.
Buckingham County schools specifically reported relatively small numbers of students with incomplete vaccinations – just four kids between Buckingham County Primary School and Central Virginia Christian School.
Public health officials caution, however, that school immunization surveys are imperfect snapshots rather than real-time vaccination maps.
Erica Hunter, the immunization data and outreach manager with VDH’s Division of Immunization, said the state’s annual survey captures vaccination status only on the first day of school and may not reflect students who later become compliant.
ERICA HUNTER: That data is looking at one point in time, so it looks at the very first day of school. A child, or a student, may be up to date by the next day. We just don’t capture that.
Hunter said incomplete vaccination records can stem from several different causes, including delayed paperwork, missed appointments, transportation barriers, disruptions to routine healthcare during the COVID pandemic, and vaccine hesitancy.
HUNTER: I think it’s multifaceted. I don’t think it’s just one thing.
The COVID pandemic disrupted preventative healthcare nationwide, Hunter said, causing some children to fall behind on regular pediatric visits and routine immunizations. Public health officials have since worked to rebuild vaccination rates through school-based clinics, outreach campaigns, and free vaccine programs.
Virginia requires students entering kindergarten to receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, though families may seek religious exemptions. While the Buckingham County public school district hasn’t seen any measles cases, the first reported patient was identified as a school-aged child, and the majority of cases across the state involve children under 13, indicating the virus may be circulating among kids outside the public school system.
Lee said measles exploits gaps in immunity wherever they exist — particularly in highly connected communities where people gather closely through schools, churches, workplaces, and family networks.
LEE: Part of that interdependence that we have means we have an obligation—a moral obligation— to help take care of each other.
For Lee, the challenge facing public health officials involves rebuilding trust in scientific and medical institutions after years of political polarization and online misinformation.
She said false claims linking vaccines and autism — originating from a now-discredited and falsified study published in the 1990s — continue to shape fears among some parents.
LEE: It's not that they're bad, they're concerned about their kids, right? That’s what we want all parents to be.
Social media algorithms, she said, can deepen those fears by repeatedly exposing users to information that reinforces existing anxieties and distrust.
LEE: Every single time we click something, we are putting our data into an algorithm that then knows us better and gives us even more of what we want. And so, it's understandable to me that somebody could, if they say, “all I ever see in my newsfeed is people who say that they've been hurt by vaccines,” they're only going to see more and more and more of that, and they're never going to get this other perspective. So I do think that that’s really important for us, especially in public health, as we try to help people understand the benefits of vaccination to have a genuine understanding of the person sitting across from us or the parent who’s really concerned.
Public health officials emphasize that measles can cause severe complications, especially among infants, immunocompromised people, and unvaccinated children. The virus can lead to pneumonia, deafness, brain swelling, blindness, and death.
LEE: If measles was nothing, we wouldn't have worked so hard to get a vaccine for it. So it isn’t nothing. It is serious and can be a very deadly and crippling disease.
As Buckingham County health officials continue monitoring the outbreak, schools and healthcare providers are urging residents to review vaccination records, monitor symptoms, and remain aware of potential exposures.
