By THE ALASKA STORY
July 27, 2026 – Measles virus RNA was detected in several Anchorage wastewater samples collected earlier this month, prompting Alaska public health officials to alert healthcare providers Monday.
The Alaska Section of Epidemiology said the virus was found in samples collected July 7, 8, 9 and 14. The concentrations were described as “very low,” and no recent human case of measles has been confirmed in Alaska.
The finding does not establish that measles is spreading in Anchorage, but it indicates that the virus was present somewhere within the Anchorage sewer system during the July 7–14 period.
The Anchorage sewershed includes the city and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson but does not include Eagle River or Girdwood.
WastewaterSCAN, a national disease-surveillance program, notified state epidemiologists July 22 and 24 after metagenomic sequencing detected the viral genetic material.
Wastewater testing can detect viruses, bacteria and other substances shed through toilets, sinks, showers, laundry and drains. It cannot identify the person who carried the virus, establish whether that person was an Anchorage resident or visitor, or determine whether community transmission is occurring.
State officials emphasized that people cannot contract measles from wastewater. Measles is a respiratory disease that spreads through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or breathes.
The detection comes as the United States experiences its highest measles case count in 35 years. As of July 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recorded 2,318 confirmed cases during 2026, already exceeding the 2,289 cases reported during all of 2025. Thirty-five new outbreaks have been reported this year, and 93% of confirmed cases have been linked to outbreaks, according to the CDC.
Alaska epidemiologists instructed healthcare providers to remain alert for patients with possible measles, particularly those with recent domestic or international travel, contact with travelers, or incomplete or unknown vaccination histories.
Early symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Small white spots known as Koplik spots may develop inside the mouth, followed by a red rash that usually begins on the face and spreads downward across the body.
Providers who suspect measles are being instructed to place the patient in airborne isolation immediately and notify the Section of Epidemiology at 907-269-8000. The after-hours number is 800-478-0084. Officials said providers should not wait for laboratory confirmation before reporting a suspected case.
State health officials are also encouraging Alaskans to check whether they are current on their measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations. Children generally receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, while adults without evidence of immunity should consult a healthcare provider. The CDC says two doses provide the best protection and usually provide lifelong immunity against measles.
The wastewater results are not presently displayed on the public WastewaterSCAN dashboard because they were discovered through metagenomic sequencing rather than the standard digital droplet PCR testing used for publicly reportable concentration levels. WastewaterSCAN has indicated that sequencing results may be added to the dashboard in the future.
9 thoughts on “Measles virus detected in Anchorage wastewater; no recent human cases confirmed”
Chickens eventually come home to roost, and Anti-vaxxers will someday learn that lesson the hard way.
And by the way, not vaccinating your kids should be considered child abuse.
So is sending them to the public schools.
OTOH, when the public health apparat lied through their individual and collective teeth about COVID, the vax and denied all claims of deadly reactions to the vax out of hand (myocarditis, for example), nobody ought to be surprised that trust in everything they claim has been completely destroyed. It will take decades for that trust to be rebuilt, which it should. You COVID vax cheerleaders brought this upon yourself. Good luck in the Brave New World you created. Was your exercise in “Sit down, shut up, and color” worth it? Cheers –
It’s not just the Right as you incredulous claim are anti vaxxers. I meet many millennial, GenZer parents whom are non political, non voters, and moderate in the middle kind of citizens and they will not vaccinate their children throwing all kinds of information my way why they have chose and what they read why vaccines are more unsafe, and why they will never give it to GenAlpha or GemBeta.
You just have to accept how others raise their children whether or not you agree. It’s not up to you nor government agency to force a parent in another direction that you think is best.
Hans, strikes me as a person who keeps his circle small, rarely leaves his home except to go to work, grocery, and his favorite activities but he doesn’t know much about people to know how to think about them beyond his stereotypes and opinions.
Gawd Tina, your assessment of others relies on teeny weeny bits of information that can be explained in a hundred ways.
I hate to wallow in the Covid swamp but we come to our conclusions using Outside sources. Who ya gonna believe, My Pillow Guy Mike Lindell or thousands of apolitical experienced CDC(before it was effed up by Kennedy) scientists?
Ivermectin and bleach or vaccines?
Dear Tina, I reread my post, and it is clear that I never insinuated that anti-vaxxers were all Right-wingers. Please reread it. For sure I accept that parents can raise their children as they wish, but there are limits when children are being physically abused and harmed. There is a hard red, legal line that confirms this concept.
And Tina, you strike me as someone who has gone way off the rails with all of your religion gibberish. So please leave me alone. I am a far more rational, and probably social, person than you.
Are they using live virus measles vaccine here? That would put virus DNA into the sewage without an attendant outbreak. They just spiked the sample
OK kids. Don’t play at the treatment plant.
The testing differentiates between wild strain measles and VA (vaccine attenuated) detections. The recent detections were of the d8 genotype which is wild strain measles.
Nothing’s wrong with wastewater-based epidemiology done right and reported accurately.
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Problem is the people doing it lost their credibility after what they did to us in the name of China flu hysteria.
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Remember Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, who said anyone who died and tested positive for coronavirus will be labeled as a death resulting from coronavirus, regardless of whether or not the person had any underlying health conditions prior to being diagnosed with the virus?
(Daily Caller April 7, 2020)
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What changed in the public-health community?
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Who knows what this crew did, how they did it, or whether their reporting’s accurate. They said they found measles virus RNA, -not the measles virus itself-, floating in our wastewater. What other horrific RNA did they find, or is this to be announced later if a full-on, mask-up measles panic can’t get started?
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We learned the hard way what this mob were willing and able to do to us in the name of China flu hysteria, so it seems reasonable to expect people might resist a redux, especially this close to elections and school-year starting.
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Would our public-health community not be better served by working really hard to restore public trust, preferably in non-woke, non politically-correct ways?