A measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico has recently been in the news. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in 2025, measles cases have also …
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Is your family at risk for measles?
A measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico has recently been in the news. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in 2025, measles cases have also been reported in Alaska, California, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Rhode Island.
As of Feb. 20, 93 cases of measles had been reported to the CDC by county health departments. In 2024, a total of 285 cases were reported nationwide.
According to the CDC, most recent cases were children and 95% of the recent cases were unvaccinated with another 4% not fully vaccinated. Full vaccination is two doses of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
About 25% of those infected in the recent outbreak have been hospitalized.
In 2024, the United States had 285 reported cases of measles, with 40% of those patients requiring hospitalization.
According to the CDC, measles spreads through contact with an infected person. It spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes, contaminating the air someone else breaths and/or surfaces that someone else may touch. It is highly contagious.
The symptoms of measles usually start between 10 days to 2 weeks after exposure. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose and sore throat. As the infection progresses, a red, blotchy rash usually appears. The rash often starts on the face and neck and spreads to the rest of the body. The rash may be accompanied by small white spots in the mouth.
Measles is an airborne, extremely infectious, and potentially severe rash illness. Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, an estimated 48,000 people were hospitalized and 400–500 people died from measles in the United States each year.
The World Health Organization estimates there were 107,500 measles deaths in 2023 worldwide, primarily in areas with low vaccination rates.
Adults who had measles as children are considered to have lifetime immunity.
If you were vaccinated with the first version of the measles vaccine between 1963 and 1968, the CDC recommends at least one dose of MMR.
If you don’t know if you had measles as a child and don’t have access to your childhood vaccination records, your primary care physician can order a Titer test to check for immunity against measles.
