Carbon County Public Health confirmed two measles cases on Nov. 10 and asked residents to check their vaccination records while the department, working with the state, traces people who may have been exposed.
In a county press release, officials said they were coordinating with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services to find contacts and limit further spread. They asked the public not to circulate unverified information about the patients. Residents who think they were exposed and are unvaccinated, under-vaccinated or unsure of their immunity were told to call Carbon County Public Health at 406-446-9941.
The state’s Health Alert Network issued a provider advisory the same day, NBC Montana reported. The advisory said public exposure sites would be posted on the Carbon County Public Health website and on Yellowstone County’s RiverStone Health site as they were identified.
A day later, RiverStone Health said a person with measles who does not live in Yellowstone County may have exposed people in the main lobby elevators at Intermountain Health St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings between 9:45 and 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, the Billings Gazette reported. Anyone who was in that area and is not immune was advised to call RiverStone at 406-247-3305. RiverStone CEO Jon Forte said the hospital identified the risk quickly and that the broader community risk was very low.
The Gazette, citing a DPHHS dashboard, said Lewis and Clark and Fergus counties had already recorded measles cases in 2026 and that Yellowstone County had not reported a resident case this year as of that report. Measles can linger in the air after an infected person leaves a room. The CDC considers people protected if they have had measles, are fully vaccinated or were born before 1957. Some contacts may be eligible for vaccine or immune globulin if they are reached quickly.
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