Measles Outbreak Grows: Here's Where Cases Are Spreading In The U.S.

Forbes

30-05-2025

There was an uptick in measles cases across the U.S. over the last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday, though the spread of the highly contagious illness appears to have slowed in Texas.
Most of the cases in the U.S. are centered in Texas.
There have been 1,088 confirmed cases of measles across 30 states so far this year, according to the latest update from the CDC on Friday, increasing by 42 cases over the previous week and far surpassing the 285 measles cases in total reported in 2024 (the CDC does not provide data on how many cases are actively infectious).
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported Friday its number of measles cases, which date back to late January, had grown by nine to 738, with 94 patients being hospitalized and two school-aged children confirmed dead from the illness since the start of the state's outbreak.
Fewer than 10 of the confirmed cases are estimated to be actively infectious, while 37 of the cases were in vaccinated people, with the remainder of the 701 sick patients being unvaccinated or having an unknown vaccination status, according to Texas health officials.
In New Mexico, which has the second-highest number of measles cases in the country, Lea County is home to 66 of the state's 79 confirmed cases and has reported one death; it is about 47 miles from Gaines County, Texas, where the vast majority of Texas' measles cases have been detected.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 64 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, and Jill Bronaugh, the department's communications director, previously told Forbes genetic sequencing of one case is 'consistent' with a link to outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico.
A measles case in Iowa was confirmed in an unvaccinated adult in central Iowa last week, a first for the state since 2019, according to the Iowa's department of health and human services, which noted 84% of 2-year-olds in the state are vaccinated, well below the 95% threshold required to prevent outbreaks.
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There have been 409 measles cases confirmed in Gaines County, a rural area about an hour-and-a-half west of Lubbock. Cases have reached double digits in Terry County (60), El Paso County (57), Lubbock County (53), Dawson County (26), Yoakum County (20), Lamar County (20), Cochran County (14) and Ector County (11), with a total of 35 Texas counties confirming cases.
An eight-year-old girl died in Lubbock of 'measles pulmonary failure' in April after contracting the disease, The New York Times first reported. The hospital where she died, UMC Health System, confirmed the death to media outlets, noting the child was unvaccinated and did not have any underlying health conditions. An unvaccinated resident of New Mexico's Lea County died from measles in March, according to the New Mexico Department of Health. An unvaccinated six-year-old in Texas also died of measles in February, marking the first death from measles in the U.S. in a decade.
Some 280 of the cases have been among people aged five to 17, while 215 cases were among children younger than five and 239 were reported among adults aged 18 and above. The ages of four patients have not been stated.
The CDC has reported 14 outbreaks (three or more related cases) in 2025, with 90% of confirmed cases (977 of the 1,046) being outbreak-associated. Cases in Kansas have been linked to New Mexico, which has cases connected to the Texas outbreak. Outside of triple or double-digit cases in California, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio and Pennsylvania, anywhere from one to nine cases have been confirmed by the CDC in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York City, New York state, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
Symptoms of measles include a fever, rash, cough, fatigue, runny nose and red eyes. The symptoms do not appear until 10 to 14 days after someone is exposed to the virus and can appear as late as 21 days after exposure.
Measles is highly contagious and can spread from one person to nine out of 10 people close to them, according to the CDC, which notes a person infected with measles can spread it to others four days before through four days after the rash appears. Measles can spread through coughing, sneezing and infected surfaces and linger in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours after infected people leave a given area.
People infected with measles should isolate for four days after they develop a rash, with the day of rash onset being considered day zero.
Yes, and it is highly effective and safe, according to the CDC. The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, which has been available for over half a century, is about 97% effective at preventing measles with the standard two doses and 93% effective with one dose. The vaccine is typically given to people when they are children, with one dose administered between 12 to 15 months and another administered between four to six years old. The vaccine generally provides long-term or lifelong protection. There is no problem with getting the vaccine if you are an adult unsure of their vaccination status, Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told NPR. Adults born after 1957 and vaccinated before 1968 should consider getting revaccinated, NPR reported, noting early measles vaccines are not as effective.
After initially claiming the measles outbreak was 'not unusual,' Kennedy changed his stance and considered it 'serious,' saying in a since-removed March 3 statement the outbreak 'is a call to action for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to public health.' On April 6, Kennedy said the 'most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.' In a separate follow-up post, the HHS leader touted 'two extraordinary healers' who treated measles-sickened children in Texas with budesonide, an anti-inflammatory steroid, and clarithromycin, an antibiotic used on bacterial infections. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, told NPR that budesonide has no role in treating measles while clarithromycin is not the correct antibiotic for treating secondary bacterial infections from measles. Kennedy furthered his support for the vaccine in an interview with CBS News, saying, 'The federal government's position, my position, is that people should get the measles vaccine,' though he did not say the government should mandate the vaccine. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, has also supported the use of vitamin A under the supervision of a physician to treat people with measles, creating concerns among health experts who have cautioned about the vitamin's effectiveness. Sue Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told The Washington Post that solely relying on vitamin A instead of the MMR vaccine is 'dangerous and ineffective' and can put children at risk, noting too much vitamin A can 'cause serious health problems, including liver damage.'
'Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities,' according to The Texas Department of State Health Services.
The Texas measles outbreak began in late January with just two cases and has become the state's largest outbreak of the virus in 30 years. The Texas Department of State Health Services said in a report of student immunization status for the 2023-2024 school year that 5.64% of Texas kindergarten students were not vaccinated for measles, while 2.34% of seventh graders had not received the vaccine. Measles was fully eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, according to the CDC, meaning the virus was not spreading within the country and new cases only came from people who contracted measles abroad and returned to the U.S. In 2024, a total of 285 measles cases were reported across 33 states.
Measles cases are rising in the U.S. Do adults need a vaccine booster? (NPR)