The number of cases due to a measles outbreak in Knox County, in Ohio, increased to 14 this week, and the total state count is located in two digits in four counties.
The United States has so far this year more than double cases of measles than in all 2024, and Texas reports most of them, with 505.
The cases in Texas include two school -age children who were not vaccinated and died from measles -related diseases near the epicenter of the outbreak in western Texas, which led the Federal Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to visit the community on Sunday.
Other states with active outbreaks – defined as three or more cases – are New Mexico, Indiana, Kansas and Oklahoma. The virus has been spreading in communities with low vaccination rates. The third person who died was an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated.
The multiestatal outbreak confirms the fears of health experts that the virus will be strengthened in other communities in the United States with low vaccination rates, and that propagation could be extended for a year. The World Health Organization has said that there are cases in Mexico linked to the Texas outbreak.
Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that is transmitted by air and easily spreads when an infected person breathes, sneezes or cough. It is preventable by vaccination and had been considered eliminated from the United States since 2000.
This is what you have to know about measles in the United States.
How many cases of measles are in Texas and New Mexico?
The outbreak in Texas began at the end of January. State Health officials said on Tuesday that there were 24 new measles cases since Friday, raising the total of 505 in 21 counties, most of them in western Texas. The State also recorded a new hospitalization, for a total of 57 during the outbreak.
65% of cases in Texas are in Gaines County, with a population of 22,892 people, where the virus began to spread in a Mennonite community with low vaccination. The County has registered 328 cases since the end of January, a little more than 1% of the county residents.
On Thursday, an 8 -year -old boy died in Texas, according to Kennedy. Health officials in Texas said the child had no underlying health conditions and died of “what the child’s doctor described as measles pulmonary insufficiency.” Another child died of measles in Texas at the end of February; Kennedy said he was 6 years old.
New Mexico announced two new cases on Tuesday, raising the total state to 56. State Health officials say that the cases are linked to the Texas outbreak according to genetic tests. Most are in Lea County – where two people have been hospitalized – two are in Eddy County, and Chaves County added to the list on Tuesday with a case.
New Mexico reported his first death related to measles in an adult on March 6.
How many cases are there in Kansas?
Kansas has 32 cases in eight counties in the southwest part of the state, health officials announced Wednesday. Two of the counties, Finney and Ford, are new on the list and are important population centers in that part of the State. Haskell has the majority with eight cases, Stevens County has seven, Kiowa County has six, and the rest has five or less.
The first case reported in the state, identified in Stevens County on March 13, is linked to the shoots of Texas and New Mexico according to genetic tests, said a spokesman for the State Health Department. But health officials have not determined how the person was exposed.
How many cases are there in Oklahoma?
The cases in Oklahoma remained stable on Tuesday: eight confirmed and two probable cases. The first two probable cases were “associated” with the sprouts of western Texas and New Mexico, said the State Health Department.
A spokesman for the State Health Department indicated that measles exhibitions were confirmed in the Tulsa and Rogers counties, but did not mean what counties they had cases.
How many cases are there in Ohio?
The Ohio Department of Health confirmed 20 cases of measles in the state until Thursday: 11 in Ashtabula County near Cleveland, seven in Knox County and two cases in Allen and Holmes counties.
Ohio is not including non -residents in his count, said a spokesman for the State Health Department. The outbreak in Knox County in the center-east of Ohio has infected a total of 14 people, according to a press release from the County Health Department, but seven of them do not live in Ohio. A measles outbreak in the center of Ohio became ill to 85 people in 2022.
The outbreak in Ashtabula County began with a non -vaccinated adult who had interacted with someone who had traveled internationally.
How many cases are there in Indiana?
Indiana confirmed six connected measles cases in Allen County, in the northeast of the State: four are unaccoured minors and two are adults whose vaccination status is unknown.
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Cases do not have a known link with other outbreaks, said the health department of County Allen on Wednesday. The first case was confirmed on Monday.
Where else is measles appearing in the US?
Sammampion cases have also been reported in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington.
The centers for the control and prevention of diseases in the United States define an outbreak as three or more related cases. The agency has registered six groups that qualified as outbreaks in 2025 until Friday.
In the United States, cases and outbreaks generally trace even someone who contracted the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in communities with low vaccination rates. In 2019, the United States registered 1,274 cases and almost lost its status to eliminate measles. Until now in 2025, the CDC count is 607.
Do I need a triple vaccine reinforcement?
The best way to avoid measles is to receive the measles vaccine, papers and rubella (known as triple or SRP). The first dose for children between 12 and 15 months of age and the second between 4 and 6 years is recommended.
People with a high risk of infection received by vaccines many years ago may consider receiving a reinforcement if they live in an area with an outbreak, said Scott Weaver, from the global virus network, an international coalition. These may include family members who live with someone who has measles or those especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases due to underlying medical conditions.
Adults with “presumptive immunity evidence” do not generally need measles vaccines now, CDC point out. The criteria include written documentation of adequate vaccination in the past, confirmation of the last infection laboratory or being born before 1957, when most people probably became naturally infected.
A doctor can order a laboratory test to verify the antibody levels against measles, but health experts do not always recommend this route and the coverage of the medical expenses insurance can vary.
Receiving another triple viral vaccine is harmless if there are concerns about the decrease in immunity, CDC point out.
People who have documentation of having received a living vaccine against measles in the 1960s do not need to be revaccinded, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective vaccine against measles made of “dead” viruses must be revacted by at least one dose, the agency indicates. That also includes people who do not know what kind of vaccine they received.
What are the symptoms of measles?
The measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body and causes fever, nasal secretion, cough, red and crying eyes and a rash.
The rash usually appears three to five days after the first symptoms, starting as flat red spots on the face and then spreading to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever can increase to more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the CDC.
Most children will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, cerebral inflammation and death.
How can measles be treated?
There is no specific measles treatment, so doctors generally try to relieve symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.
Why do vaccination rates import?
In communities with high vaccination rates – on top of 95% -, diseases such as measles do not spread easily. This is called “group immunity.”
But children’s vaccination rates have decreased in the United States from the pandemic, and more people ask for religious or personal consciousness exemptions to exempt their children from the required vaccines.
The United States had an increase in measles cases in 2024, which included an outbreak in Chicago that became ill to more than 60.
With agency information.
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