Okinawa Confirms First Measles Case of 2026

Overview

• Okinawa prefecture said it confirmed its first measles infection this year and launched a contact-tracing investigation.
• Officials identified the patient as a man in his 20s in the Chubu Health Center area who returned from outside the prefecture on March 28 and later tested positive after a fever.
• The probe is mapping his movements and checking for possible contact with large groups to find and notify those exposed.
• Ministry surveillance for March 23–29, drawn from about 3,000 designated sentinel clinics, logged 3,629 COVID-19 cases (0.96 per clinic) and 24,536 flu cases (6.46), both down for a seventh straight week.
• Regional gaps persist in COVID activity, with the highest cases per clinic in Iwate (3.38), followed by Okinawa (2.82) and Aomori (2.56).