Kentucky has confirmed 157 measles cases in 2026, and nine patients have been hospitalized, according to state health figures reported by 14News on October 14. No deaths have been reported. Bath County in northeastern Kentucky reported its first case, and Laurel County, where the county health department is investigating 56 confirmed cases, now has more cases than any other county in the state.
The center of the outbreak has shifted. It began in July in Christian County in western Kentucky, but the largest group of cases is now in Laurel County in the southeastern part of the state. That puts families in eastern Kentucky in the same position western Kentucky families faced this summer: checking vaccine records and knowing what to do after a possible exposure.
