Measles Outbreak Map Shows 17 States With Reported Cases

Cases of measles have been recorded in at least 17 states since the start of the year, as local health officials attempt to prevent the spread of the disease.

There have been confirmed cases in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

Measles is a highly contagious illness caused by a virus that spreads through an infected person’s breath, coughs or sneezes. Symptoms tend to include a cold-like illness and a rash of tiny red spots. However, it can cause complications and, in some cases, lead to death.

Since mid-February, cases have been recorded in six new states. The Indiana Department of Health confirmed a case of measles in Lake County on February 23—the first in the state since 2019. Health officials said the risk to the public was low.

The same day, the Michigan Department of Health said a confirmed case had been identified in a child in Oakland County, on the outskirts of Detroit, and was associated with international travel.

The day prior, health officials in Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, Arizona, recorded two cases linked to an initial case in an international traveler announced on February 10. Five public locations have since been identified as potential infection sites.

On February 21, the Louisiana Department of Health reported that two individuals had been diagnosed with the disease in the greater New Orleans area after returning from a trip outside of the state.

The day before that, an outbreak linked to an elementary school in Broward County, Florida, saw six people diagnosed with measles. The first case was detected in a third grader with no history of travel who tested positive on February 16.

On February 7, health officials in Minnesota confirmed that a 16-month-old child in Dakota County, south of Minneapolis, had tested positive for measles after returning from international travel. Since then, two more cases linked to that infection have been recorded.

On February 3, the director of the Ohio Department of Health reported the state’s first case of 2024, in a child from Montgomery County, which includes the city of Dayton. The department said at the time it wasn’t aware of any additional cases, but it was working to identify others who may have been exposed.

On February 1, the Maryland Department of Health confirmed a positive case in a Montgomery County resident who traveled internationally prior to becoming infected.

Also on February 1, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in California announced that a resident had contracted the illness and had traveled through Los Angeles International Airport in the afternoon of January 25.

On January 18, the Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed a case of measles in an unvaccinated resident of the Atlanta area, who was exposed to it abroad. On January 12, health officials in Clay County, Missouri, also confirmed a case of measles in a Liberty resident, following travel via Kansas City International Airport.

Prior to that, on January 11, the Delaware Division of Public Health announced that 20 to 30 people may have been exposed to someone who had been at the Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington and wasn’t showing symptoms of the disease, but was infectious, on December 29, 2023.

On January 13, the Camden County Health Department in New Jersey said it was “closely monitoring” a confirmed case of measles in the area who had visited two nearby healthcare facilities earlier in the month.

Health officials in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have been tracking an outbreak of measles in the city. As of January 22, there had been nine confirmed cases. One of those cases was in nearby Montgomery County.

Officials in Washington said that, as of January 6, six epidemiologically connected cases of measles had been identified in Clark and Wahkiakum counties. They stressed that the risk to the public was deemed low and the infections likely occurred in mid-to-late-December.

Cases have also been recorded in New York City and Virginia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The New York State Department of Health has said that there were no cases in the state outside of the city, while health officials in Virginia warned of the potential for infection from international travel in January.

Health officials in the U.S. urged people to get the MMR vaccine. One dose is 93 percent effective at preventing measles, while two doses are 97 percent effective.

Figures compiled by the CDC show, as of February 29 this year, there have been 41 new cases of measles reported in the U.S., excluding the case recorded in Delaware at the end of last year.

The worst year for measles in the U.S. since 1992 came in 2019, when there were 1,274 cases recorded nationwide.