Health department finds measles in another round of testing at Lincoln wastewater facility

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department reported that measles has been detected for the second time in Lincoln wastewater.

In a press release on Wednesday, the health department said measles was found in samples taken from the Theresa Street Water Resource Recovery Facility on Jan. 26 and 28.

Wastewater samples are collected every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and no measles was detected in the Jan. 30 samples, according to the health department.

There have been no additional cases of measles reported in Lancaster County since the first one on Jan. 28.

SEE ALSO: Measles reported in Lancaster County for the first time in more than 30 years

“We continue to monitor our wastewater samples closely,” said Kerry Kernen, Health Director. “We expected to see more instances of measles detected in wastewater since we did have a case of the disease in the community, and people can shed the virus for days to weeks even after they’re no longer contagious.”

The community can find local wastewater data on the WastewaterSCAN dashboard at data.wastewaterscan.org/.

For more information on measles and the MMR vaccine, visit the health department’s website.