As cases of the measles pop up across the country, Douglas County health officials say they think it’s only a matter of time until the disease makes its way to Kansas.

But it won’t be easy to diagnose, according to Kirsten Evans, a pediatrician at Lawrence Pediatrics. With an effective vaccine in use for years, not many doctors have encountered the disease.

“None of us have seen it,” said Evans, who has worked in pediatrics for 20 years. “It’s going to be difficult because it starts just like a cold. It’s going to be challenging.”

Douglas County has experienced just one probable case of the measles since 2009, and across the rest of the country it has largely been nonexistent. Annual case totals in the U.S. have reached 200 or more only twice since 2001. But already this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 102 cases were diagnosed in 14 states in January.

“Having it in so many different states, and having it even in Colorado and Nebraska, we know it’s probably only a matter of time until it comes to Kansas,” said Shirley Grubbs, public health nurse at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department.

County and state officials have put health care providers on notice to keep an eye out for the disease.

Measles attacks the lungs and breathing tubes, causing rashes and fevers. It is particularly contagious and, in rare cases, deadly.

Health officials have been emphatic about the importance of receiving the vaccine, which they say is 95 percent effective against the disease.

Even President Barack Obama weighed in during an interview on the “Today” show Monday, saying the science behind vaccines is “pretty indisputable.” Vaccine opponents sometimes cite refuted research linking vaccines to autism.

Grubbs said it is a good idea for anyone born after 1957 who can’t confirm through records or parents that they’ve received the vaccine to go get the shot. She said anyone born before 1957 has probably already been exposed to the disease and developed immunity.

The CDC reports that the majority of those contracting measles were unvaccinated. The national outbreak was traced to Disneyland in southern California.

Measles is still common in parts of Europe, Asia, the Pacific and Africa and can spread in the United States when it comes in contact with groups of unvaccinated people, according to the CDC.

“People don’t need to get the measles because there is a great vaccine out there,” said Sara Belfry, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

According to the state health department, 88 percent of kindergartners in Douglas County received their measles vaccinations in the 2012-13 school year. Kindergartners in the Lawrence school district had a vaccine rate of less than 90 percent.

Sonja Gaumer, health services facilitator for the Lawrence school district, said that if a student contracted the disease, all student vaccination records at his or her school would be reviewed. Those who haven’t received the proper vaccinations would be told to get them within 24 hours or be excluded from school for a period of time.

“Because it’s just a highly contagious disease, everyone within a school building is considered to be exposed,” she said.