By Devi Shastri, writer AP Health
The cases of American measles exceeded 700 Friday, capping a week in which Indiana joined five other states with active epidemics, Texas increased by 60 other cases and a third death linked to measles was made public.
The Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said Thursday at a cabinet television meeting that measles cases are popularly popular, but the virus continues to propagate mainly in non -vaccinated people and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention American have redeployed a team in western Texas.
The United States has more than double the number of measles that it has seen in all 2024, and Texas reports the majority of them with 541.
The cases of Texas include two non -vaccinated elementary children who died of measles related to the measles near the epicenter of the epidemic in the rural west of Texas, which led Kennedy to visit the community on Sunday. The third person who died was an adult with New Mexico who was not vaccinated.
Other states with active epidemics – defined as three or more cases – include New Mexico, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio and Oklahoma.
The epidemic of several states confirms the fears of health experts that the virus does not settle in other American communities with low vaccination rates and that propagation can extend for a year. The World Health Organization said that cases in Mexico are linked to the Texas epidemic.
The measles is caused by a very contagious virus which is in the air and is easily spread when an infected person breathes, sneezed or coughs. It has been avoidable by vaccines and has been considered to be eliminated from the United States since 2000.
Here is what you need to know about measles in the United States
How many measles is there in Texas and New Mexico?
The Texas epidemic began at the end of January. State health officials said on Friday that there were 36 new measles since Tuesday, bringing the total to 541 in 22 counties – most of them in the west of Texas. A total of 56 Texans were hospitalized throughout the epidemic.
Among the confirmed cases, state health officials estimated on Friday that around 5% are actively infectious.
Sixty-five percent of the cases of Texas are in the county of Gaines, 22,892 inhabitants, where the virus began to propagate in a united and subvacinated mennonite community. The county has recorded 355 cases since the end of January – just over 1% of the county residents.
Last week’s death in Texas was an 8 -year -old child, according to Kennedy. Texas health officials said the child had no underlying health problems and died of “what the child’s doctor described as a pulmonary insufficiency in measles”. A child died of measles in Texas at the end of February – Kennedy said the age of 6.
New Mexico announced two new cases on Friday, bringing the state total to 58. State health officials said that the cases are linked to the Texas epidemic according to genetic tests. Most are in the county of Lea, where two people were hospitalized, two in the county of Eddy and one is in the county of Chaves.
New Mexico pointed out its first death-related death in an adult on March 6.
How many cases is there in Kansas?
Kansas has 32 cases in eight counties in the southwest of the state, health officials announced on Wednesday. Two of the counties, Finney and Ford, are new on the list and are the main population centers in this part of the State. The county of Haskell has the most eight cases, the county of Stevens has seven, the county of Kiowa has six and the others have five or less.
The first case reported by the State, identified in the county of Stevens on March 13, is linked to the epidemics of Texas and New Mexico based on genetic tests, said a spokesman for the State Health Department. But health officials did not determine how the person was exposed.
How many cases are there in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma cases increased from two Friday to 12 in total: nine confirmed cases and three probable cases. The first two probable cases were “associated” with epidemics in western Texas and New Mexico, the State Health Department said.
A spokesperson for the State Health Department said that the exhibitions to measles had been confirmed in the counties of Tulsa and Rogers, but would not say what counties had cases.
How many cases are there in Ohio?
The Ohio Ministry of Health confirmed 20 cases of measles in the state Thursday: 11 in the county of Ashtabula near Cleveland, seven in the county of Knox and one in the counties of Allen and Holmes.
Ohio does not include non-residents in his count, a spokesperson for the State Health Department said at the Associated Press. The Knox county epidemic in the center-east of Ohio infected a total of 14 people, according to a press release from the County Department of Health, but seven of them do not live in Ohio. In 2022, an epidemic of measles in the center of Ohio overshadowed 85.
The epidemic in the county of Ashtabula began with an unvaccinated adult who had interacted with someone who had traveled internationally.
How many cases are there in Indiana?
Indiana has confirmed six connected cases of measles in the county of Allen in the northeast part of the State – four are unvaccinated minors and two are adults whose vaccination status is unknown.
The cases have no connection known with other epidemics, the Allen County Ministry of Health said on Wednesday. The first case was confirmed on Monday.
Where else do measles appear in the United States?
Cases of measles 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 American centers for the control and prevention of diseases define an epidemic as three or more linked cases. The agency had seven clusters who qualified as households in 2025 on Friday.
In the United States, cases and epidemics are frequently retraced to someone who caught the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in low vaccination communities. In 2019, the United States saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status to have eliminated measles. Until now in 2025, the CDC count is 712.
Do you need a Booster MMR?
The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR). The first blow is recommended for children aged 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old.
People at high risk of infection who received the blows many years ago could consider obtaining a booster if they live in an area with an epidemic, said Scott Weaver with the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. These may include family members living with someone who has measles or those particularly vulnerable to respiratory diseases due to the underlying medical conditions.
Adults having “alleged evidence of immunity” generally do not need measles strokes now, said the CDC. The criteria include the written documentation of adequate vaccination earlier in life, laboratory confirmation of past infection or birth before 1957, when most people were likely to be naturally infected.
A doctor can order a laboratory test called a MMR title to check your measles antibody levels, but experts do not always recommend it and health insurance plans may not cover it.
Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about the decline of immunity, says the CDC.
People who have documentation on the reception of a direct measles vaccine in the 1960s do not need to be revaccinated, but people immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles vaccine made from “killed” viruses should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said. This also includes people who do not know what type they got.
What are the symptoms of measles?
The measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, a flowing nose, a cough, a red, aqueous eyes and a rash.
The eruption generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, starting like flat red spots on the face, then spreading down to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the eruption appears, the fever can increase by more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC.
Most children will recover measles, but infection can cause dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, swelling of the brain and death.
How can you treat measles?
There is no specific treatment for measles, so doctors are generally trying to relieve symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients at ease.
Why are vaccination rates important?
In communities with high vaccination rates – greater than 95% – diseases and measles have more difficulty spreading in communities. This is called “the immunity of the herd”.
But childhood vaccination rates have decreased nationally since the pandemic and that more and more parents are claiming that religious or personal conscience exempt to exempt their children from the required shooting.
The United States has seen an increase in measles cases in 2024, including an epidemic in Chicago which reported over 60 years.
AP scientific writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report.
The Department of Health and Sciences of the Associated Press receives the support of the scientific and educational group of the media from the medical institute Howard Hughes and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Originally published:
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