Central Iowa health officials have confirmed another case of measles in a child, and the list of places the child visited spans three dates and two cities. The exposure windows fall on Nov. 5, Nov. 6, and Nov. 8 and include a Walmart and Hy-Vee in Ankeny, UnityPoint Clinic Urgent Care - Ankeny, and extended stretches inside Iowa Methodist Medical Center and Blank Children’s Hospital.
According to KCCI, the child was at the Walmart on National Drive in Ankeny from 5 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, then at the Hy-Vee on North Ankeny Boulevard from noon to 3 p.m. the following day. On Nov. 8, the child was at UnityPoint Clinic Urgent Care on North Ankeny Boulevard from 10:10 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
That same day, exposure windows covered several areas of the Iowa Methodist Medical Center and Blank Children’s Hospital campus on Pleasant Street. The shared emergency department waiting room was an exposure site from 11:25 a.m. to 1:35 p.m., and the Blank Children’s emergency department itself from 11:30 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. Other exposure windows included the hallway connecting the emergency department to the hospital’s inpatient elevators, from 3:15 to 5:25 p.m., and Blank Children’s fourth floor, from 3:20 to 10:45 p.m.
Health Department Urges Anyone Exposed To Watch For Symptoms
The Polk County Health Department is asking anyone who may have been at those locations during the listed windows to fill out a survey and monitor themselves for symptoms, the station’s report notes. The request mirrors how officials have handled prior exposure sites this year, as the window for measles symptoms to appear can stretch well beyond the day of contact.
Iowa’s outbreak has been building for months. The state logged its first measles case of 2026 in July, a vaccinated adult who had contracted the virus during international travel and recovered at home, according to KDSM17. By the end of August, the case count had climbed to 17, as reported by the Des Moines Register. That is a sharp jump from all of 2025, when the state reported just nine cases total, per the same newspaper.
Statewide Case Count Reaches 50
Iowa’s measles count had reached 50 by Nov. 4. The Des Moines Register reported the state had confirmed 50 cases as of Nov. 4, and WHO13 reported that the total had reached 50 by Nov. 4, after 42 cases had been logged a few days earlier. Iowa HHS has said it anticipates additional cases may occur, particularly among people not protected against measles through vaccination or prior infection, the Register reported.
WHO13 reported that a majority of the state’s cases have occurred in people aged 5 to 19, followed by those 20 and older, and that roughly two-thirds of reported cases have been concentrated in southern Iowa. Earlier reporting cited by WHO13 found that 40 of 42 reported cases involved people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
Iowa’s outbreak is unfolding against a backdrop of rising measles activity nationally. The United States reported 2,289 confirmed measles cases in 2025, resulting in 243 hospitalizations and three deaths, according to KDSM17. Other parts of the state have dealt with their own exposure scares recently; the Des Moines Register listed potential exposure locations in Keokuk and Osage on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.
