With one-fifth of states seeing active measles outbreaks, the U.S. is nearing 900 cases, according to figures posted Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC’s confirmed measles cases count is 884, triple the amount seen in all of 2024. The now three-month-long outbreak in Texas accounts for the vast majority of cases, with 663 confirmed as of Tuesday. The outbreak has also spread to New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness.
Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
North America has two other ongoing outbreaks. One in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 1,020 cases from mid-October through Wednesday. And as of Tuesday, the Mexican state of Chihuahua state had 761 measles cases and one death, according to data from the state health ministry. The World Health Organization has said cases in Mexico are linked to the Texas outbreak.
Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.
As the virus takes hold in other U.S. communities with low vaccination rates, health experts fear the virus that the spread could stretch on for a year.
