The Georgia Department of Public Health has confirmed the state's first case of measles this year, and the youngest confirmed case since Jan. 1, 2025. 

The positive measles case was reported Monday in the Coastal Public Health District in Savannah. The department said the infected baby is too young to be vaccinated and that they got measles from international travel.  

There have been three measles cases reported in the United States in 2026 as of Jan. 6.  

There were 10 reported cases of measles in Georgia last year in Fulton County and the Greater Atlanta area, and all except one were among unvaccinated people. Most also contracted the virus from international travel.  

Measles is listed under Georgia's Notifiable Disease Reporting Program, meaning health care providers are required by law to report any suspected case. When that happens, local public health departments step in for testing and contact tracing.  

The Georgia Department of Public Health said it's still tracking down anyone who came in contact with the infected baby.  

It's recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that babies at least 6 months old traveling outside the United States get a single-dose measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Babies are otherwise recommended to get their first dose between 12 and 15 months old.  

That stands true in the newly adopted childhood vaccine schedule approved by the Department of Health and Human Services earlier this month.  

Just over 90% of Georgia children were reported by the state to have received a full dose of the MMR vaccine in 2023. For a community to be protected from measles outbreaks, at least 95% of the population should be vaccinated, according to the CDC and the World Health Organization.

Nationally, measles infected over 2,100 people in 2025, surpassing records hit over 30 years ago. The vast majority of people infected – 93% – had not received a measles vaccine or had an unknown vaccination status.