Tracking Measles in the U.S.: Latest Maps and Cases
Measles continues to spread in Texas and New Mexico, and has spilled into the neighboring states of Oklahoma and Kansas. The outbreak is likely to persist for a year, according to Texas health officials.
Measles cases by county in 2025
◯ Outbreaks ● Isolated cases
Sources: State and county health departments; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
At least 1,217 confirmed or probable measles cases have been reported nationwide: 1,032 related to outbreaks and 185 isolated cases, typically linked to international travel.
The C.D.C. has reported 1,214 confirmed cases as of June 20, making 2025 the second highest year since the United States declared measles eliminated in 2000. Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma now represent the largest single outbreak in that time.
Confirmed measles cases since 2000
Source: C.D.C. confirmed cases through June 20
Measles infected 1,274 people in 2019, with more than 20 separate outbreaks around the country and large outbreaks in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York. This year is likely to surpass that count.
New measles cases by week
Source: C.D.C. confirmed cases through June 20
Texas
The Texas outbreak began in late January, when local health officials reported two cases in Gaines County, a rural agricultural area on the western edge of the state.
The outbreak quickly escalated. Measles spread into neighboring counties and has now infected at least 750 people in Texas, including 707 unvaccinated children and adults. At least 97 people have been hospitalized and two unvaccinated children have died: a school-age girl in February and an 8-year-old girl in April, the first such deaths in the United States in a decade.
Measles cases in West Texas and nearby states
Sources: State and county health departments; C.D.C.
New Mexico
Measles spread across the New Mexico border into Lea County, which borders Gaines County. New Mexico has reported 81 cases and 7 hospitalizations across seven counties.
An unvaccinated resident of Lea County who tested positive for the virus died, though officials have not yet confirmed that measles was the cause of death. In both Texas and New Mexico, most measles cases have spread among people who are unvaccinated.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma has reported 20 measles cases, but has not identified which county or counties they appeared in.
C.D.C. officials view the spread of measles in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma as a single outbreak.
Kansas
Kansas has reported 79 measles cases across 11 counties, mainly involving unvaccinated children. The initial cases were clustered in the southwest corner of the state near the Oklahoma border, and genetic sequencing has suggested a link to the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks.
Ohio
Ashtabula County in northeastern Ohio has identified an outbreak of 10 measles cases linked to an international traveler. The cases do not appear to be related to the West Texas outbreak.
Another outbreak of 14 confirmed cases in Knox County was announced on April 8, linked to an earlier case in that county.
Measles cases in Ohio and nearby states
Sources: State and county health departments; C.D.C.
Indiana
Allen County in northeastern Indiana confirmed an outbreak of six cases on April 9, but stated that “there are no known links to outbreaks in other states.” The outbreak was declared ended in late May.
Pennsylvania
Erie County in northwestern Pennsylvania declared an outbreak of five linked cases on April 14. The state has also reported isolated cases in four other counties, with at least two cases linked to the West Texas outbreak.
Michigan
Montcalm County confirmed a small outbreak of three measles cases on April 17. The Michigan health department said the outbreak was “initially linked to a large, ongoing outbreak in Ontario, Canada.”
New Jersey
A small outbreak in Bergen County, N.J., began when someone who had traveled internationally infected two close contacts. The outbreak is no longer active.
Measles Infections
Measles is one of the most contagious known infections. In a hypothetical community where nobody had immunity and each person with measles infected 18 others, a small outbreak would quickly grow out of control:
Every vaccinated person would help slow the spread of the virus and limit the outbreak:
For the outbreak to end quickly, each infected person would need to infect fewer than one other person, on average. In this example, 17 of 18 people would need to be vaccinated — more than 94 percent of the community:
And while measles symptoms often resolve on their own within a few weeks, the virus can be extremely dangerous in rare cases. It may cause pneumonia, making it difficult for children to get oxygen into their lungs.
The infection can also lead to brain swelling, which can cause lasting damage, including blindness, deafness and intellectual disabilities. For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The virus also causes “immune amnesia,” making the body unable to defend itself against illnesses it has already been exposed to and leaving patients more susceptible to future infections.
Once someone is infected with the virus, doctors have little control over how serious a measles infection becomes — there is no antiviral for measles to stop its spread in the body, only “supportive care” to help manage symptoms. That’s why experts recommend that people get two doses of the M.M.R. vaccine, which are 97 percent effective at preventing infection.
Measles was officially declared eliminated — which means the virus is not continually spreading — in 2000, in large part because of aggressive vaccination campaigns. Experts now fear that status may be at risk, as childhood vaccination rates have been falling nationally.
Vaccination Rates
For years, Gaines County has had low childhood vaccination rates, largely because of the area’s large Mennonite community. While there is no religious doctrine that explicitly forbids vaccines, the insular Christian group has historically avoided interacting with the health care system and has a long tradition of using home remedies and supplements.
Roughly 82 percent of the kindergarten students in the county had received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination, or M.M.R., last year, which is far below the 95 percent coverage needed to prevent outbreaks in a community.
Texas public schools require children to have received certain vaccines, including the M.M.R. shot, but parents can apply for an exemption for “reasons of conscience,” including religious beliefs. Last year, Gaines County had one of the highest exemption rates in the state.
Vaccination rates can vary widely by school district. The Loop Independent School District in Gaines County is a small district with one school and the lowest rate of measles vaccination in the affected Texas counties. Only 46 percent of kindergarten students had received their M.M.R. vaccine in the 2023 school year, down from 82 percent in 2019.
Change in measles vaccination rates in affected Texas counties
By county, for public school districts and private schools, since 2019
Source: Texas Department of State Health Services
Note: Chart shows the change in reported vaccination rates among kindergarten students in public school districts and private schools from 2019–20 to 2023–24. Homeschooled children and some private schools are not included in this data.
In Lea County, N.M., the M.M.R. vaccination rate for children and teens is relatively high, at about 94 percent. But the rate among adults is much lower: 63 percent have received one shot of M.M.R., and only 55 percent have received both shots, according to local health officials, though they noted that there may be vaccinated adults whose records have not been added to the system. Adults make up more than half of reported cases in New Mexico.
