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The measles outbreak in western Texas reached 624 cases this week, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Meanwhile, a total of 29 states have now reported an infection.
In 2024, there were 285 cases of measles reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). So far, less than four months into 2025, there have been a total of 800 confirmed cases in the United States. A month ago, that number was just over 300 and was in 15 states.
Those 800 cases does not include a number of “probable” cases that have also been reported. It also doesn’t include the hundreds of people who are suspected to be infected, but have gone untested.
It also doesn’t include the 925 people who contracted measles in Ontario, Canada from mid-October through April 16. Nor does it include the 514 cases recorded in the Mexican state of Chihuahua – a direct result of the West Texas cases.
The measles outbreak in the United States began in Gaines County, Texas where the outbreak is the largest – 386 cases at last report. In that jurisdiction, nearly 1 in 5 incoming kindergartners in the 2023-24 school year did not get the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. In March, a North Texas pastor actually bragged on Instagram that his church school ranked last in the state of Texas for measles vaccination rates.
Over the past week, Montana, Louisiana, Missouri, Virginia and Illinois reported their first cases, two new cases were confirmed in Indiana, a fourth case was confirmed in Colorado, and the ninth case this year in the state of Michigan was confirmed.
It was also reported this week that an unvaccinated infant with measles may have exposed others while traveling through the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported on Wednesday that it is working with local health officials to identify all potential exposure locations involving the patient. They also recently unveiled an online dashboard tool that allows users to look up measles vaccination rates.
“The key to preventing measles is the highly effective measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine. Two doses of measles vaccine are 97% effective in preventing measles,” IDPH director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the cuts made by the Trump Administration threaten the free vaccine federal program for children and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been promoting unproven treatments for measles.