Maine reported four new measles cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to five, but state health officials said the overall risk to the public remains low.

When the first case was announced on Feb. 6, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention listed two locations where people may have been exposed: St. Joseph Hospital’s emergency department in Bangor on Feb. 3 and Hill View Mini Barns in Etna on Jan. 28 or Jan. 29. 

In announcing the additional four cases, the Maine CDC said there were no new locations that posed exposure risks.

“Because we didn’t identify additional places where people were exposed to the measles virus, there’s no further measles exposure to the public at this time,” Dr. Puthiery Va, director of the Maine CDC, said in a Wednesday interview.

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, chief health improvement officer for MaineHealth, said that “could be good news.”

“We may have dodged a bullet,” Mills said, “but it’s too early to tell.”

Va said there are a few factors that have so far helped limit the spread. She said the people who contracted measles are quarantining; the five cases are all considered “close contacts” of the person who initially contracted the virus; and Maine has a high vaccination rate.

All of that combined, Va said, gives the state better odds of avoiding a major measles outbreak like those that have occurred in other states.

South Carolina has reported 962 measles cases since October, and nine locations, since Jan. 28, where the public was exposed to the virus. Most of the cases were among unvaccinated people.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 910 cases so far this year, and 2,280 cases across the country in 2025.

The cases reported in Maine this year were the first since 2019.

The four Maine cases announced Tuesday were among unvaccinated people and included children and adults, Va said. She said the agency is not currently disclosing more specific information, out of privacy concerns. The first case, reported earlier this month, is an adult who has an unknown vaccination status, contracted measles while traveling to Pennsylvania and was hospitalized at St. Joseph’s, Va said.

All of the cases were in Penobscot County.

Measles is contagious for up to 21 days and everyone known by the Maine CDC to have contracted measles is isolating to prevent further spread, Va said.

The Maine CDC said the five cases are not considered an outbreak because they are all linked as close contacts to the person who initially contracted measles and there have not been any cases linked to the general public. Va said state epidemiologists are still investigating the cases.

The Maine CDC launched an online measles dashboard this week to inform the public of cases in the state.

Measles symptoms include a rash, fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. The virus spreads through the respiratory system and Va said unvaccinated people who are exposed to the virus have a 90% chance of contracting the disease.

“Measles is a disease that is really good at exploiting vulnerable populations,” Va said. “It’s really good at finding individuals who are not protected from the virus.”

Mills said Maine is in a better position than many states because of its culture of supporting vaccinations and a law that went into effect in 2021 that eliminated religious and philosophic exemptions to school-required vaccines. Since then, Maine’s school vaccination rates have improved and are among the best in the nation, according to federal statistics.

“We have excellent vaccination rates in Maine, but we do have pockets of communities in rural Maine with vulnerable populations, such as certain religious communities, homeschooling communities and homesteaders that traditionally have had lower vaccination rates,” Mills said.

Va said that as people travel to areas with measles outbreaks in the spring and summer, the risk of additional cases in Maine will increase. Va encouraged people to “check their vaccination status” to see if they need a measles booster shot.

“We have a very safe and effective measles vaccine, and it has worked for decades,” Va said.