GRANT COUNTY, Wis. — An infant in Grant County has died of measles, the first measles death in Wisconsin since 1990, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Grant County Health Department announced in a news release on November 5, 2026.

The county coroner listed measles as the immediate cause of death. Grant County Health Officer Kessa Klaas said in the release that the infant was too young to receive the measles vaccine. No name was released, and no further details about the child were made public.

Wisconsin has now recorded 431 measles cases in 2026, the most the state has seen in more than 35 years. Nine people have been hospitalized. All but three of the cases have been in people who had not received the measles vaccine, which state health officials say is 97 percent effective at preventing infection.

The outbreak remains concentrated in southwest Wisconsin, with the largest case counts in Grant, Lafayette and Iowa counties. Nearly one in five Wisconsin counties has reported a measles case this year. Transmission has occurred primarily in Amish and Mennonite communities. Cases were first reported to the public in early August, though state data show people began experiencing symptoms in early July. Health workers who treat the Amish population in southwest Wisconsin have said the disease arrived in the state after a large group traveled to Pennsylvania earlier in the summer.

Wisconsin now joins Pennsylvania and New York among the states reporting measles deaths in 2026.

On November 3, 2026, the state health department recommended that babies 6 months and older who are likely to be exposed to measles receive an early, extra dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, known as a zero dose, to offer protection before they can receive their first regular dose between 12 and 15 months of age. Between 500 and 600 of those zero doses have been given to Wisconsin infants since August. State officials said the health department has delivered more than 2,000 doses of measles vaccine to local health departments responding to the outbreak, and that more than 42,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered across the state since August.

Measles symptoms typically start a week to two weeks after infection with a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. A few days after the first symptoms appear, red spots or bumps appear on the face and near the hairline, and the rash spreads to the rest of the body. People may also get tiny white spots inside the mouth a few days after symptoms begin. Anyone who thinks they may have measles should avoid contact with others and call a doctor’s office or clinic before arriving for care.

The measles vaccine is available at doctors’ offices, local health departments, pharmacies and pop-up vaccine clinics. Wisconsin residents can check their measles, mumps and rubella vaccination status through the Wisconsin Immunization Registry at dhfswir.org.

Dubuque In Pursuit News reported on October 31, 2026, that Wisconsin’s measles case count was near 400, with Grant County in the center of the outbreak. The statewide count has since risen to 431, and the Grant County infant’s death is the first measles death in Wisconsin in 36 years.

Sources: Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Grant County Health Department news release

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