Montezuma County reports no new measles cases; wastewater testing negative, final emergency sample planned
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Summary
Public-health officials said four measles cases occurred in Nov.–Dec.; wastewater surveillance run by Cortez Sanitation at CDPHE request returned a negative result for Jan. 8 and staff said one more scheduled test will be the last unless new cases emerge. The health department urged vaccination and described staff workload for case investigations.
Montezuma County Public Health told the Board of Health on Jan. 15 that the county had four confirmed measles cases in November and December and, as of Jan. 12, "no further cases for us," the director said. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment arranged emergency wastewater monitoring with Cortez Sanitation during the response; staff reported the most recent sample (collected Jan. 8) was negative.
The department explained wastewater testing is a sensitive early-warning tool: "Like, just 1 case will show up in wastewater," the director said, and staff described how wastewater positivity often precedes clinical detection. In response to a board question, staff said one more sample would be taken "tomorrow" and that would be the last emergency test unless new positives appear: "And that will be the last 1... and then they will stop," the director said.
Public-health staff described the resource intensity of measles case investigations. A nurse involved in investigations said she ‘‘did the math today, and it took 1 nurse, over 80 hours to to do 1 case... and there were 2 nurses on each case... Hundred and 60 plus hours’’ when contact tracing and daily follow-up are included.
The department emphasized vaccine availability: "We will administer [MMR]. People can just call us and we will make an appointment with them. We'll run out to the car if we need to," the director said. Board members asked about local coverage rates; staff did not have precise MMR coverage on hand but offered to provide exact figures after the meeting.
Officials also provided a snapshot of other respiratory illnesses: locally there were two influenza hospitalizations and one RSV hospitalization; about 100 local COVID cases were reported. The director cited statewide influenza hospitalizations to underscore continuing risk and urged vaccination.
