A person with a confirmed case of measles spent parts of six days at schools, a college campus, restaurants and a medical office across Geauga and Lake counties while able to spread the virus, Geauga Public Health reported. The sites run from Monday, Nov. 2 through Saturday, Nov. 7, and officials are asking anyone who was there at the listed times to check their vaccination records and watch for symptoms.
The longest exposure window is at Berkshire Middle School, 14155 Claridon Troy Road in Burton, where the person was present from Monday, Nov. 2 to Thursday, Nov. 5, from about 7:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. each day, according to Geauga Public Health’s list, which the Akron Beacon Journal published. The same address hosted a second exposure on Tuesday, Nov. 3, when the person attended the Berkshire Local Schools fall choir concert from about 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., Geauga Public Health reported.
Kent State University told its students Wednesday evening, Nov. 11, that the person also visited the Kent State Geauga Campus, 14111 Claridon Troy Road in Burton, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, from about 3:30 to 7 p.m., the university said in its campus notice. According to Geauga Public Health, anyone on campus during that time may have been exposed, Kent State said.
The remaining Geauga County site is The Hambone, 13960 Rock Creek Road in Chardon, where the person was present during evening dinner hours on Tuesday, Nov. 3 and again on Thursday, Nov. 5, according to Geauga Public Health’s list published by the Beacon Journal. In Lake County, the person visited SPC Sports, 9431 Mentor Ave. in Mentor, on Friday, Nov. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Longhorn Steakhouse, 9557 Mentor Ave. in Mentor, the same day from about 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the health district reported.
The final listed site is University Hospitals Urgent Care Concord, 7500 Auburn Road, Suite 1200, in Concord, on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 5:54 to 8:48 p.m., Geauga Public Health reported. The times the health district published include the window after the person left, because the measles virus can live for up to two hours in the air where an infected person coughed or sneezed, the Ohio Department of Health states, as the Beacon Journal reported.
Measles spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes, Kent State said in its notice, and people with measles can spread it from four days before through four days after a rash appears, according to the Ohio Department of Health, as reported by the Beacon Journal. Symptoms usually appear seven to 14 days after exposure but can take up to 21 days, and they include a rash, high fever, runny nose, cough, loss of appetite and red, watery eyes, the health department states.
That timing is why this week matters. The City of Mentor, relaying Geauga Public Health’s notice, said symptoms from these exposures may appear between Nov. 9 and Nov. 28. For anyone who was on the Kent State Geauga Campus on Nov. 3, Kent State said symptoms could appear through about Nov. 24.
The case lands in the middle of a big measles year for Ohio. The Ohio Department of Health is reporting 310 cases in 25 counties so far this year, according to its Nov. 5 dashboard update — nearly six times the 45 cases reported in all of 2025, the Beacon Journal reported. Most of Ohio’s cases are among unvaccinated individuals, the department reports.
"It’s unfortunate that these outbreaks have become more common in Ohio over the past few years, because this disease is preventable," Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, the Ohio Department of Health director, said in a July 30 statement reported by the Akron Beacon Journal. "This serves to emphasize the importance of being fully vaccinated. I strongly encourage you to protect yourselves and your children by getting vaccinated."
Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are about 97% effective, Kent State and the Ohio Department of Health report. Measles can still be deadly: as many as one in 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children, and complications are more common among children younger than 5, adults older than 20, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems, the department states, as the Beacon Journal reported.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: Geauga Public Health has confirmed one case and published seven exposure locations, and Kent State has notified its campus community. The sources used for this story do not report any additional cases linked to these exposures, a count of people present at each site, or the person’s identity or condition, so none of that is reported here. The open question is whether anyone who shared those rooms develops symptoms inside the Nov. 9 to Nov. 28 window. Health investigations elsewhere in Ohio this fall have followed the same pattern, including the probe NewsForce247 covered in Athens County, where officials are investigating four confirmed E. coli cases with no source yet identified, and prevention efforts like the free vaccine clinic three health districts teamed up to offer in Bainbridge.
What happens next: anyone who may have been exposed and is not vaccinated, or is unsure of their immunity, should contact a healthcare provider, Kent State advised, and anyone who develops symptoms should call the provider before visiting a medical facility so others are not exposed. Geauga Public Health has posted the full exposure list and answers questions at 440-279-1900, Kent State said. The symptom watch runs through Nov. 28.
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