Measles infections, which broke out in Texas throughout last year, are now increasing in other states.
Measles is an airborne infectious disease spread by a virus and transmitted via coughing, sneezing and breathing. It first attacks the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the rest of the body.
Respiratory symptoms appear around four to seven days after infection. After seven days, infected individuals can also gain rashes on the skin throughout the regions of the body. Officials say that right before and after the rash appears is when the individual is most infectious.
The disease can result in death, typically due to other complications such as blindness, brain infection (encephalitis), ear infection, dehydration and pneumonia.
The most efficient way to prevent both the infection and spread of measles is by vaccination. Those at the highest risk of contracting the disease are unvaccinated children and pregnant persons.
By mid-August of 2025, Texas had a total of 762 confirmed measles cases, 718 of which were observed in unvaccinated individuals.
Utah declared their own measles outbreak in June of last year, and the number of confirmed cases since then is currently at 358. Dr. Leisha Nolen, state epidemiologist, has confirmed that most of the cases were affecting people who were unvaccinated.
On March 6, Colorado health officials announced a measles outbreak in Broomfield. Seven students who attend Broomfield High School and Broomfield Heights Middle School were confirmed to have measles. Due to the highly infectious nature of the virus, students and faculty who came in contact with the infected individuals were quarantined for 21 days.
In March of 2026, South Carolina confirmed 979 cases, and that number is slowly increasing.
A reason for cases rising, especially in unvaccinated individuals, is the fear surrounding vaccinations implicated by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s mandates as Secretary of Health. Kennedy is trying to overturn laws that require children to get immunized so that they can attend school. There is research supporting the fact that diseases such as measles and whooping cough travel faster and more efficiently in countries with low vaccination rates.
Health officials recommend vaccination as the best way to prevent the spread of diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella and whooping cough, especially in those whose immune systems are underdeveloped or compromised, such as children, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.