There have not been any reported cases of measles in Bladen County, according to Health & Human Services director Dr. Terri Duncan.
Measles outbreaks have increased significantly since 2025 in the United States, according to figures provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Neighboring South Carolina had reported a nation-high 653 outbreaks this year as of Feb. 26, CDC figures showed.
“We monitor it daily,” Duncan said. “If we were to have a case I would be contacted by the state.” Bladen Health & Human Services would announce a confirmed measles case publicly.
Duncan credited the county’s high vaccination rate for measles among school age children, but expressed concern about a lower vaccination rate among pre-school children in Bladen.
The Bladen County Health Department offers immunizations on a walk-in basis during regular working hours. Its office is located at 300 Mercer Mill Road, Elizabethtown.
The N.C. Division of Public Health estimates 96.8% of Bladen County children in grades K-5 have been vaccinated for measles.
“The vaccination rate for school-aged children for measles is amongst the highest in the state,” Duncan said. “The vaccination rate for those children that are not preschool age is not as good. We need to vaccinate those children. They can get their first vaccination at a year old. The important key is vaccination.”
About 25% of Bladen County children at 24 months old or younger have not been properly vaccinated, Duncan said.
There were only 35 cases of measles reported in North Carolina from 2005 to 2024, but already 18 cases reported in the first two months of 2026, figures show.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases and can be dangerous in babies and young children. The virus lives in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person and can be spread to others through coughing and sneezing. If you have measles, the CDC says, up to 90% of the people close to you, who are not immune, will also become infected.
Symptoms of measles appear seven to 14 days after contact with the virus, according to the CDC, and begin with a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth a few days later followed by flat red spots on the face at the hairline, then spread downward to the feet.
“If you think you have the measles, you need to call before you go see your provider or to the emergency room,” Duncan said. “You should call so that the agency, the clinic or the emergency room can be prepared. It is such a highly contagious disease that if a person is in a room and gets it it will get into the air.”
There were almost 500,000 cases of measles confirmed in the United States prior to the vaccine being licensed in 1963, CDC figures show. By the late 1960s measles cases were reported under 50,000.
A 1989 measles outbreak among vaccinated school-aged children prompted a recommendation of a second dose of MMR vaccine for children. By 2000, measles were declared eliminated in the United States.
There were brief outbreaks in 2014 (667 cases) and 2019 (1,274 cases) before almost doubling in 2025 (2,281 cases) and 1,136 cases this year through Feb. 26.
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