Navajo Health Officials Confirm Second Measles Case, Issue Public Advisory

The Navajo Department of Health issued a public health advisory after Coconino County Health and Human Services confirmed a second county resident tested positive for measles on March 30, ten days after the year's first case was announced on March 20. Contact tracing has since reached across communities in Page and Tuba City, two of the most-traveled hubs on the Navajo Nation.

The second case added a new set of public exposure sites. Anyone who rode Page Unified School District bus routes 3 or 6 between March 23 and March 25 during morning or afternoon transportation times, with stops at Page High School and Manson Mesa High, may have been exposed and should monitor for symptoms through April 16. At the main hospital building in Tuba City on March 27, anyone present from 9:30 to 11:45 a.m. Arizona time (10:30 to 12:45 p.m. Navajo Nation time) should watch for symptoms through April 18.

The first confirmed case, announced March 20, generated its own list of exposure sites in Page. Visitors to Page High School on March 12 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:40 p.m., the Safeway at 650 Elm Street that same day from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m., and Banner Page Hospital at 501 North Navajo Road on March 16 from 12:40 to 5:20 p.m. were all potentially exposed. Those at the school or Safeway should monitor through April 2; Banner Page Hospital visitors through April 6.

Measles is among the most contagious illnesses known, with roughly 90 percent of unvaccinated individuals exposed to an infected person contracting the virus. Symptoms include high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a blotchy rash that starts on the face and spreads down the body. Anyone experiencing those symptoms should self-isolate and call a healthcare provider before going in for care.

Health officials are recommending two doses of the MMR vaccine as the primary protection against infection. The vaccine is available at all Indian Health Service and 638 facilities on the Navajo Nation. Arizona has recorded a sharp increase in measles cases across multiple counties in 2026, making the Navajo Department of Health's advisory relevant across the entire span of the Nation.