New state dashboard tracking infectious diseases, including measles in the Dayton area

Four total measles cases confirmed in the region, two each in Montgomery, Miami counties.

Credit: NYT

Credit: NYT

A new dashboard will be tracking infectious diseases across the state.

“We hope that this helps people to better understand disease activity in their community and statewide, both historically and currently,” said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health.

The “Summary of Infectious Diseases in Ohio” dashboard will be accessible through the state’s DataOhio Portal website at data.ohio.gov, which includes 331 searchable datasets with 106 programs contributing data.

Data is available back to 2001, and it will be updated weekly. The interactive dashboard replaces an annual report on diseases that was not available until about 18 months after the close of a year.

Examples of diseases with data available on the dashboard include measles, legionellosis and Lyme disease, as well as cases of illnesses that can be foodborne such as salmonella and E. coli infections.

The infectious diseases dashboard does not include information on COVID-19 or influenza as the Ohio Department of Health maintains separate dashboards for those viruses.

Measles is one of the infectious diseases on the dashboard. There are four total confirmed cases in the Dayton region: two in Montgomery County and two in Miami County.

Greene County identified a third case of the measles, a Montgomery County resident with ties to Greene County, according to a press release from Greene County Public Health, but only two cases have been officially confirmed in Montgomery County residents.

The Ohio Department of Health is assisting Montgomery County in its investigation of a possible third case to determine if the criteria is met to include the case in Ohio’s count, ODH said.

Multiple previous exposure sites have been identified, including the most recent at Round 1 Bowling and Amusement, 2727 Fairfield Commons Blvd. from 4 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 16. Anyone who was at the facility until 7 p.m. — up to two hours after the person left — may have been exposed to measles.

Individuals who may have been exposed should contact their local health department, said Dan Suffoletto, public information manager at Public Health - Dayton and Montgomery County.

The health department in an individual’s county of residence will guide them through steps they should take based on their circumstances, he said.

If you are not sure how to contact your local health department, visit odh.ohio.gov/find-local-health-districts.

Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has as of mid-March recorded more cases in 2024 than the 58 tallied in all of 2023.

A total of 64 measles cases were reported by 17 jurisdictions this year as of March 21. Those places include Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

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