Measles Risk In Wayne: See Outbreak Likelihood Map In New Report

WAYNE, NJ — As measles outbreaks continue to be reported across the country, ABC News has released an interactive map in which people can determine an area’s risk by zip code.

In 2025, the country saw the highest number of measles cases since 1992, with 2,242 infections across 44 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Eleven of those cases were reported in New Jersey.

Three people died last year— two unvaccinated children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico. They were the first people to die of measles in the United States in a decade.

The data used in the map, gathered by Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine, and Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, uses vaccination rates as the primary indicator of measles outbreak risk.

The map labels Wayne as a "Medium Risk" of a measles outbreak, with 70 to 79 percent of its residents vaccinated.

However, Passaic County as a whole is considered to be at a "Very High Risk", with less than 60 percent vaccinated, according to the data. This is partially due to extremely low vaccination rates in both Paterson and Passaic, the county's two most populous areas.

Although there haven’t been any outbreaks reported in 2026, the CDC said that as of Jan. 13, there have been 171 confirmed measles cases in nine states, most of them in South Carolina (145). Utah reported 14 cases, and other states — Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and Virginia — reported three or fewer cases. There have been no cases of measles among international visitors so far this year.

MMR vaccine rates among entering kindergarteners have been subsiding nationally since before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CDC data. During the 2024-2025 school year, an estimated 92.5 percent of kindergartners had been vaccinated against measles, compared to 95.2 percent in 2019.
For highly contagious diseases like measles, a very high vaccination rate of around 95 percent is the benchmark for achieving herd immunity.

One of the most contagious of infectious diseases, measles spreads easily through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Virus-containing droplets can remain in the air or on surfaces for up to two hours, and one person with measles can infect nine out of 10 unvaccinated people, according to the CDC.

Measles symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, watery red eyes, and a rash that usually appears between three and five days after symptoms begin.

“The rash usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, torso, arms, legs, and feet,” an NJ Department of Health statement read. “Measles can also cause serious complications, such as pneumonia and encephalitis (swelling of the brain), and can lead to miscarriage in pregnant people, premature birth, or a low-birth-weight baby.”

Individuals who think they may have contracted the virus should call their local health department or a health care provider before going to any medical office or emergency department, health officials say.

Read More:

• Possible Measles Exposure At Newark Airport Amid Holiday Travel: Health Officials
• Measles-Infected Resident Exposed ER, 2 Other NJ Facilities To Illness