ASHLAND — Vickie Taylor said there have been no confirmed measles cases in Ashland County since the beginning of the year.
Taylor, health commissioner at the Ashland County Health Department, said this does not mean there hasn’t been a single case in the county since 2026 began — but none have been reported to or tested at the department.
This comes as good news as the situation in surrounding counties has not been as fair.
The Wayne County Health Department confirmed five new measles cases on Aug. 27, along with an additional 29 suspected or probable cases, according to a press release from the department. All of the cases are unvaccinated individuals, the release said.
These cases bring Wayne County’s total to nine confirmed cases since Jan. 1, 2026, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s infectious diseases dashboard.
Other nearby counties reporting confirmed measles cases since the year began include Holmes County (6 cases), Knox County (4) and Tuscarawas County (12) (numbers as of Thursday evening).
For the year, the state health department has reported 122 confirmed cases statewide, consisting of 14 counties.
Requests for measles clinics in local Amish communities
During Tuesday’s Ashland County Board of Health meeting, Taylor said the department has recently received requests to host some more measles vaccine clinics in some of the county’s Amish communities.
“We are going to do that,” the health commissioner said. “We’re working with Medina County to try to get that (northeast) part of the county and they’re willing to come and help us out.”
Similar clinics have taken place in Amish communities in both Knox and Holmes counties, Taylor said.
“The words getting out that it’s OK to get them (measles vaccination) and they’re really cooperating,” she said.
The recent vaccination push is largely fueled by mothers or women in the Amish communities, Taylor said, who know the dangers measles pose on pregnancy.
“If we can get pretty good herd immunity in that community, then that’s really going to help us — even moving forward,” the health commissioner said.
More information regarding immunization offerings through the Ashland County Health Department can be found here.
