The map shows more than 1,900 measles cases across the US

In 2025, the United States recorded the most Measles cases Over 30 years, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. A large portion of the infections were linked to the outbreak in West Texas deaths who two children.

By the end of the year the total number of cases nationwide had risen above 2.000, with infections confirmed in at least 44 states.

Measles One of the most contagious infectious diseases, and in some cases, can cause serious infections in the lungs and brain that can lead to cognitive problems, deafness or death. But doctors and health officials say vaccinewhich is usually given as part of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine combination. Highly safe and effective.

While most people’s symptoms improve, 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who get measles will be hospitalized. About 1 out of every 1,000 children with measles will develop brain swelling that can damage the brain, and 3 out of every 1,000 children who become infected will die, the CDC said.

The largest outbreak so far this year has occurred in West Texas, with more than 760 confirmed infections before the state declared an outbreak. Officially finished In August. An increasing number of cases have also been reported in other states of the country. In South Carolina, for example, Dozens of students have been kept in quarantine Due to the outbreak in October.

The CBS News data team is tracking measles cases nationwide as new data is released by state health departments and the CDC. (The map below is updated Wednesday when the CDC releases its latest weekly numbers.)

Texas was mainly affected by the disaster Children and adolescentsAlmost everyone was in it Unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. State and local health officials confirmed that the first patient to die was an unvaccinated school-age child, and the second was an unvaccinated 8-year-old girl. The Texas Department of Health said none of the children had underlying health conditions. Also reported by New Mexico Death of an adult with measles.

The last measles death in the U.S. before this year was in 2019, when a 37-year-old man died in California from measles complicated by meningitis, according to CDC data.

So far, the highest number of confirmed cases in the US in recent years was 1,274 in 2019, driven by Disasters In New York, California and Washington state, but most years the total has been much lower.

Health experts have pointed out Low vaccination rates As the reason for the increase in Preventable diseases Like measles.

CDC data shows that about 93% of kindergarteners in the United States were vaccinated against measles in the 2021-2022 school year and only 92.7% in the 2023-2024 school year. it is down from 95.2% During the 2019-2020 school year — a critical threshold to keep people safe.

“When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated, most people are protected through community immunity (herd immunity),” says the CDC.

Health and Human Services Secretary Dr Robert F. Kennedy Jrwhich is A history of making False and misleading claims Regarding vaccines, voices of support were raised as to vaccines Dangerous spread spread to the southwest.

“We encourage people to get the measles vaccine,” Kennedy said CBS News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. John Lapuk In An interview In April, Kennedy publicly urged people to get the measles vaccine since becoming HHS secretary, marking the first time.

When Lapuck asked what the federal government’s official position was on vaccination, Kennedy repeated, “The federal government’s position, my position is that people should get the measles vaccine,” but added, “The government shouldn’t mandate it.”

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