NewYou can listen to Fox News articles now!
Current quantity measles Cases in the U.S. have been at their highest level for more than 30 years, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday.
this CDC says As of Tuesday, 1,288 confirmed cases have been recorded in 38 states. Texas leads the country with more than 700 cases.
Last year, the CDC reported only 285 cases of measles. In 2019, 1,274 were recorded, but the total so far this year is the highest since 1992, with 2,126 cases at the time.
“In 2025, 88% of confirmed cases (1,1388) were reported to be associated with the outbreak,” the CDC said. “For comparison, in 2024, there were 16 outbreaks, with 69% of cases (1,985 in total) associated with the outbreak.”
Midwest states report first measles case since 2011
A care worker administered a dose of measles vaccine on February 27, 2025 at a health center in Lubbock, Texas. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images)
Measles cases this year have resulted in three deaths across the United States, with 92% of patients not vaccinated or vaccinated status unknown.
Of the cases this year, 13% need to be hospitalized. The CDC says people under five are most likely to need additional medical services.
It added: “The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines are very safe and effective. When more than 95% of people in the community get vaccinated (coverage > 95%), most people are protected through community immunity (herd immunity). “However, vaccination coverage in kindergartens in the United States has dropped from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.7% in the 2023-2024 school year, with about 280,000 kindergartens during the 2023-2024 school year.”
The states with cases are Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.
Measles cases continue to rise before summer travel
1-year-old River Jacobs was detained by his mother Caitlin Fuller, who received the MMR vaccine from Raynard Covarrubio at a vaccine clinic opened at the Lubbock Public Health Department in Lubbock, Texas on March 1, 2025. (Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
The CDC also said: “Measles was officially phased out from the United States in 2000, which means there is no transmission of measles in the country and new cases will be found only if someone signs abroad and returns to the country.”
Health officials said measles symptoms began to appear seven to 14 days after contracting the virus, including high fever, cough and rash.
“Measles can cause serious health complications, especially in children under the age of 5,” the CDC said. “Common complications are ear infections and diarrhea. Severe complications include pneumonia and encephalitis.”
A measles alert sign was hung outside the entrance to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York on March 14, 2025. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
Click here to get the Fox News app
“Measles is very contagious,” the CDC warns. “It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. You can only get measles in the room of a person with measles. Such a person can even occur up to 2 hours after the person leaves.”
