State public health officials announced Friday that the southern Illinois measles outbreak had ended.

At a news conference in Springfield, Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Sameer Vohra said the state had once again thwarted “one of the most contagious viruses on Earth.”

“We make this announcement knowing the spread of measles continues to be a threat, but it’s a moment to acknowledge Illinois’ public health effort,” Vohra said. “But in Illinois, we’re relieved to tell a much different story.”

The health department reported the state’s first confirmed measles case at a clinic in far southern Illinois in April. Cook County’s first two cases followed a week later.

At least 1,288 cases have been confirmed nationwide as of July 8, the most in more than 30 years and the largest spike in cases since 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three people have died from it, including an unvaccinated child in West Texas, the first confirmed measles death in the U.S. in 10 years.

Vohra said last year’s three-month measles outbreak in Chicago, where 64 cases were confirmed, prompted officials to “watch intently as measles cases began to spread in alarming numbers in other states. So when out first Illinois case was diagnosed in April, we took immediate action.”

“This doesn’t mean we won’t see any more measles cases this year,” Vohra continued. “If people don’t receive timely immunizations, then vaccine-preventable illnesses like measles can surface again.”

A Sun-Times analysis in May found just about 45% of CPS schools are at a 95% measles vaccination rate, the CDC’s benchmark for herd immunity that protects vulnerable students and kids with weakened immune systems.

That’s down from the rate in 2019, the year before the pandemic, when 90% of schools were at community-wide immunity.

While no children in Illinois contracted the virus this year, Jennifer Suh, a pediatric medicine medical advisor at IDPH, cautioned that parents still needed to vaccinate their children and be vigilant for the signs of infection.

About 92% of all cases in the U.S. this year are in unvaccinated individuals, and the largest share were children aged 5 to 19.

Symptoms of the virus include a fever of 101 degrees or higher, cough, runny nose and a rash that starts on the head around the hairline and moves down the body, lasting for about three days, though some can be longer, according to the state health department.

The best protection is the MMR vaccine, according to Vohra, as nine out of 10 unvaccinated people exposed to the airborne virus will contract it.

While vaccination rates have dropped in recent years, more than 9,000 MMR vaccines were given in Illinois between February and May, and MMR vaccination rates statewide increased 50% between February and May, according to state health officials.

“We need to maintain this momentum,” Suh said. “Especially as we prepare for the school year.”

Contributing: Kaitlin Washburn

Many Illinois ZIP codes have been added to a state health department list that requires children be tested for lead exposure.

The Illinois Department of Public Health added 180 ZIP codes across 47 counties, roughly 13% of the state, to the list on July 1. Every Chicago ZIP code appears on the list.

Some of the newly added ZIP codes are in Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.

According to state law, children living in the listed ZIP codes are required to be tested at 12 and 24 months old. Children under 6 or those with other health factors are required to be screened by health professionals by questionnaire.

Lead is especially harmful to children with developing brains and can cause a number of serious health conditions in adults. Lead can damage the brain and nervous system, as well as cause slowed growth and developmental, behavioral and learning difficulties.

About 96% of the state is on the list, with the department hoping to expand mandatory testing statewide next year.

“There is no safe level of lead in the blood,” state health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement. “Early detection and intervention are critical tools to help protect Illinois’ kids from the serious health and developmental challenges caused from lead exposure.”

Filters rated to remove lead, labeled NSF/ANSI Standard 53, and particulates, labeled NSF/ANSI Standard 42, can help reduce exposure, according to the state health department. Boiling water does not remove lead. Residents can also get their water tested and clean their sink screens, among other preventive measures.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Stanford universities last year estimated 129,000 children in the city, or 68% of those ages 5 or younger, had lead in their home drinking water.

In Illinois, which has more than 11% of the nation’s lead service lines, people of color are up to twice as likely as white people to live in a community burdened by lead service lines, according to the Metropolitan Planning Council.

The Biden-era U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated all water systems across the country begin replacing lead service lines by 2027. But Chicago is set to fall 30 years behind that timeline in replacing its 412,000 lead service lines — more than any other city in the country — according to the city’s replacement plan, submitted to the Illinois EPA in April and obtained by WBEZ through a public records request last month.

The city aims to complete 8,300 replacements annually for 50 years, wrapping up in 2076.

Contributing: Brett Chase, Keerti Gopal, WBEZ reporter Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco