Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on the planet, and it's spreading in the U.S.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases in the world. 
(koto_feja/iSotck via Getty Images Plus, CC)

With its spiking fevers, extreme fatigue, watery eyes, diarrhea, photo-sensitivity, and possible lifelong complications or death paired with its high contagion rate, measles has been likened to the "flu on steroids." Alla Katsnelson, the associate health editor for The Conversation, shares a brief on measles, reviews its renewed spread in the U.S. and discusses the measles vaccination.

As one of the world's most contagious diseases, measles is "far more contagious than more familiar infectious illnesses such as flu, Covid-19 and chickenpox," Katsnelson explains. Beyond its ability to spread, the disease can cause severe lung problems, pneumonia or brain swelling, which usually require a hospital inpatient stay. 

Since early last year, the U.S. has had an increasing number of measles cases. Katsnelson writes, "The measles outbreak in South Carolina reached 876 cases on Feb. 3. That number surpasses the 2025 outbreak in Texas and hits the unfortunate milestone of being the largest outbreak in the U.S. since 2000, when the disease was declared eliminated here."

Measles has spread more easily in communities with overall vaccination rates below 93 to 95%, which is considered the threshold for herd immunity. Katsnelson adds, "A striking – though unsurprising – feature of the South Carolina outbreak is that at least 800 of the reported cases occurred in people who weren’t vaccinated."

The vaccine mimics what catching measles does without the long-term risks. The vaccine, when given according to the recommended 2-dose regimen, is 97% effective in preventing measles infection. Daniel Pastula, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Colorado, told Katsnelson, "The immunity from a vaccine is effectively the same immunity you get from having measles itself – but vastly safer than encountering the wild virus unprotected."

Why have some parents refused to have their children vaccinated against measles? Few people, including medical providers, have ever known anyone with measles or treated someone with it. Many parents who have lived in the U.S., where there has been herd immunity for decades, "have decided that vaccinating their children, which does pose some amount of risk from rare complications, is the better choice," Katsnelson writes. However, when enough families decline vaccination, herd immunity no longer protects against the disease.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, recommended that Americans get the measles vaccine. He told Dana Bash of CNN, "Take the vaccine, please. We have a solution for our problem."

Second-largest measles outbreak in U.S. found in an isolated community with reduced vaccination rates

 NBC News graphic, from state health department data analysis 
by NBC and Stanford University

A measles outbreak along the Utah-Arizona border is now the second-largest outbreak in the U.S. this year. "As of Friday, 161 [measles] cases had been confirmed in Utah and Arizona," reports Erika Edwards of NBC News.

Most of the area's 161 confirmed cases involved residents of Hildale, Utah, or Colorado City, Arizona—an isolated region collectively known as "Short Creek," home to roughly 4,000 residents.

The country's largest measles outbreak, which began in January this year, was first identified in rural West Texas and spread into New Mexico, where it infected at least 862 people and killed three.

Both communities where measles outbreaks have occurred share several factors, including declining vaccination rates, a cultural distrust in government intrusion and modern medicine, along with "strong ties to religious sects," Edwards reports.

When measles began to spread in Short Creek, some families turned to herbal remedies rather than visiting a licensed medical professional. Edwards explains, "A similar phenomenon was seen in West Texas: In the city of Seminole, parents of children sick with measles flocked to Health 2 U for cod liver oil, an unproven remedy."

Although 11 people from Short Creek have been hospitalized from measles complications, the community is once again embracing vaccinations. Edwards reports, "the area saw a 14% increase in vaccinations during July through September of this year, compared to the same time period in 2024."

Measles made its way back into the U.S., but new ways to prevent the disease may be on the horizon.

Illustration of infectious diseases under a microscope
(Adobe Stock)

Once thought to be eliminated in the U.S., measles has returned, leaving its unpleasant symptoms and tell-tale itchy rash in its wake. With more people contracting and spreading the disease, ways to avoid or treat it have revived. "As vaccination rates fall and infections rise, scientists are racing to develop drugs they say could prevent or treat the disease in vulnerable and unvaccinated people," reports Dominique Mosbergen of The Wall Street Journal.

A little over 20 years ago, looking for ways to treat measles wasn't a consideration, but now some biotech companies and universities are working on measles prevention without the typical MMR vaccination. Mosbergen writes, "The drugs are still a ways from becoming available to patients but could offer alternatives to people who are immunocompromised, don’t respond to the measles vaccine or are vaccine skeptics."

Not all medical professionals see new measles treatments as a positive development because they could "further drive the drop in vaccination. Nationally, 92.5% of kindergartners received the measles, mumps and rubella . . . shot in the 2024-25 school year," the Journal reports. "In 2019-20, the vaccination rate was over 95%, which is the rate encouraged by health authorities to prevent community transmission of measles."

Invivyd, one of the companies working on a new measles treatment, uses measles "antibodies that are lab-made versions that can be delivered intravenously or as an injection and boost immunity immediately," Mosbergen explains. "They could benefit newborns and immunocompromised people who can’t be vaccinated, as well as the minority of people who don’t respond to the vaccine or whose immunity has waned."

Scientists haven't studied the measles virus as much as other communicable diseases because the vaccine was so effective, but to develop new treatments, researchers have "been forced to better understand measles," Mosbergen reports. "The body’s immune response to measles, for instance, hadn’t been well understood."

As the U.S. measles outbreak continues, experts see its spread as a harbinger for the return of other diseases

The spherical measles virus is one of the most infectious 
diseases on the planet. (CDC photo via Unsplash)

Brought on by decreasing vaccination rates in communities, measles is making an unwelcome comeback in the United States. The disease was considered "eliminated" in 2000, but following an outbreak in Texas earlier this year, the highly contagious disease has cropped up in 38 states.

"Researchers often think of measles as the proverbial canary in a coal mine," report Teddy Rosenbluth and Jonathan Corum of The New York Times. "It is often the first sign that other vaccine-preventable diseases, like pertussis [whooping cough] and Hib meningitis, might soon become more common."

For many adults and children, catching measles can be likened to having a cold accompanied by a very itchy rash. But for others, the disease can cause severe medical conditions, including "pneumonia, making it difficult for patients, especially children, to get oxygen into their lungs," the Times reports. "It may also lead to brain swelling, which can cause lasting damage, including blindness, deafness and intellectual disabilities."

The disease also decreases an individual's ability to fight off germs they had previously been immunized against. "Scientists call the effect 'immune amnesia.' During childhood, as colds, flu, stomach bugs and other illnesses come and go, the immune system forms something akin to a memory that it uses to attack those germs if they try to invade again," reports Denise Grady of The New York Times. "The measles virus erases that memory, leaving the patient prone to catching the diseases all over again."

Although the U.S. has dealt with "large measles outbreaks in the past, a confluence of factors has made it particularly difficult to rein in the virus this year," Rosenbluth and Corum report. "Nationally, the measles vaccination rate fell during the Covid-19 pandemic and has not rebounded to the 95% mark required to stem the spread of the virus in a community. . . . In Gaines County, the center of the Texas outbreak, just 82% of the population received the MMR [measles, mumps and rubella] vaccine that year."

Other countries are struggling with measles outbreaks as well. Rosenbluth and Corum explain, "Large outbreaks have spread through Mexico and parts of Canada, which has had a record number of cases this year. This spring, the World Health Organization announced that Europe had reported the highest number of measles cases in more than 25 years."

Find the Times' measles tracking tool for the U.S. here.

Opinion: The ongoing measles outbreak was 'avoidable.' Now what?

Map by Sarah Milotte, The Rural Index via The Daily Yonder

As measles cases in the U.S. top more than 1,000 diagnosed infections, medical experts Richard Hughes and Anna Larson call the ongoing outbreak "an avoidable public health failure," in their opinion for MedPage Today.

Measles was declared "eliminated" in the United States in 2000, but its status is evolving. The most recent eruption of the highly contagious disease began in rural Texas and "continues to unfold with additional deaths in Texas and New Mexico, an exposure at a major U.S. airport following an identified case in Maryland, and expanding to over half of U.S. states," Hughes and Larson write.

The newly appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has added to the confusion about the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine by endorsing "unproven treatments for measles and emphasizing vaccination as a personal choice rather than a public good," they write. When "he finally recommended measles vaccination to address the snowballing case count, he then ordered the search for new measles treatments instead of promoting vaccination."

Searching for a new measles "cure" won't stop the continuing spread of the disease, but beefing up MMR vaccine rates could. Instead, the administration "has canceled research related to vaccine hesitancy and misinformation," Hughes and Larson add, "and announced a requirement that all new vaccine products undergo placebo-controlled clinical trials prior to licensure."

What is likely to happen? "We can expect vaccination challenges to compound, immunization rates to decline, and vaccine-preventable diseases to rise," Hughes and Larson write. "A comprehensive U.S. approach to shore up our measles defenses and preserve elimination status is imperative, but unlikely."

What can be done to slow the current measles outbreak down? "Consistent application of proven public health measures -- expanded vaccine access, particularly in underserved populations, and improved disease and vaccine surveillance systems," according to Hughes and Larson. "The need to combat misinformation and instill public trust in vaccines is obvious, but bears repeating. . . . Now is not the time for complacency; it's time for action."

Measles is continuing to spread through unvaccinated communities, confirming experts' fears

Measles has no direct cure and
can spread easily.
(Photo by Kristine Wook, Unsplash)

The number of confirmed measles cases in the United States so far this year has reached 712, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The resurgence of the virus is cause for concern as “it is preventable … and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000,” according to Devi Shastri in an article for the Associated Press.

Measles is a viral infection that has no direct treatment. The illness can be indicated by a fever, runny nose, cough, watery eyes and a rash.

While Texas has the majority of cases at 505, there have been reports of measles in 25 states, according to the CDC.

“The multi-state outbreak confirms health experts’ fears that the virus will take hold in other U.S. communities with low vaccination rates and that the spread could stretch on for a year,” wrote Shastri.

According to Shastri's report, cases spread easily in communities with low vaccination rates and that the best way to avoid measles is to get vaccinated.

Even though the disease doesn’t have a direct cure, the article explains that most children do recover. However, “infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.”

So far, three people have died from measles this year, according to the CDC.

Quick hits: Medical flights increase; inflation navigation; rethinking grass-fed meat; NASA astronauts splash home

When every minute matters, a medical helicopter
can be a rural patient's best option. (WSAZ photo)

As more rural hospitals close, medical helicopter services are more likely to be called for emergency medical treatment. "Over the past decade, demand for air ambulance services has grown more than 50%. One factor experts say is a rising number of rural hospitals shutting their doors," reports Blair Miller of WSAZ in West Virginia. "As rural hospitals close and demand for medical flights grows, the healthcare industry faces another hurdle, a shortage of medical pilots."

Since late January, measles infections have spread from Texas to New Mexico to Oklahoma. As of late March, 321 people have contracted the disease, including a child who died from the infection. Even though most infections occur in unvaccinated people, it's still prudent to understand how the disease spreads and who may need a measles, MMR, vaccination, or vaccination booster, reports The Conversation. "In a Q&A, Daniel Pastula, a neurologist and medical epidemiologist, explained how and when you should take action." MedPage Today also offers measles vaccination guidance.

Some Americans skip the expensive
snacks. (Adobe Stock photo)

Amid increasing food costs and health care worries, many U.S. consumers are dropping some of their expensive habits, leaving convenience store sales feeling the pinch. "Convenience-store sales fell 4.3% by volume in the year ended Feb. 23, as consumers cut back on snacks and cigarettes due to rising prices and health concerns," report Jesse Newman and Laura Cooper of The Wall Street Journal. "The change in behavior is hurting U.S. sales of Doritos, Twinkies, Heath bars and Newports. . . . Lottery ticket sales remain strong."

At the time Isaac Newton pondered the idea that "what is up, must come down," he was observing an apple fall from a tree branch. Had he been watching U.S. food costs, he might have come to a completely different conclusion. "The USDA states that food costs have climbed over the past few years and will continue to do so in 2025," reports CaLea Johnson of Mental Floss. "More specifically, food-at-home prices (grocery store or supermarket food purchases) are expected to increase by 1.3%." To see which states people spend the most on groceries, click here.

After years of touting grass-fed burgers as healthier for the planet, some ranchers and conservationists may want to rethink their sales pitch. "A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences challenges found that cattle raised only on pastures do not have a smaller carbon footprint than feedlot cattle, which are quickly fattened on corn and other grains," reports Anna Phillips of The Washington Post. "This held even when the researchers took into account that healthy pastureland can help capture more carbon by pulling it out of the air and storing it in roots and other plant tissues."

NASA astronauts return home to Earth after an extended stay in outer space. (NASA photo)

Steven Speilberg's alien darling, E.T., was famously stranded on Earth and couldn't stop begging to phone home. NASA astronauts had a similar, but opposite problem. They were stuck in space wanting to get back home to Earth. "Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore set off to spend eight days at the space station. The trip lasted nine months," report Kenneth Chang and Thomas Fuller of The New York Times. SpaceX and the Coast Guard members met the astronauts as they "splashed down in calm, azure waters off the coast of the Florida Panhandle. . . . A pod of curious dolphins also greeted the astronauts."

As measles spread in west Texas, the state's 'lackluster investment' in rural health care systems is exposed

Measles is a highly contagious disease
caused by a virus. (Adobe Stock photo)

As the number of diagnosed cases of measles continues to climb, the outbreak in rural west Texas has exposed a health care system that is unprepared to handle even a smaller-scale contagion, reports Pooja Salhotra of The Texas Tribune. "Aging infrastructure, a dearth of primary care providers and long distances between testing sites and laboratories plague much of rural Texas, where the measles outbreak has concentrated."

A few years back, rural Texas was ravaged by Covid infections. Like Covid, the recent measles outbreak is "revealing how a lack of public health resources leaves rural communities vulnerable," Salhotra explains. "What’s left are local leaders forced to scrape together the few tools they have to respond to an emergency, contending with years of lackluster investment from the state and federal level to proactively prevent emerging public health threats."

A lack of hospitals, physicians and dilapidated facilities are just some of rural Texas' health care woes. "Some 64 Texas counties don’t have a hospital, and 25 lack primary care physicians," Salhotra reports. "Swaths of Texas have scant resources for public awareness campaigns. And they lack sufficient medical staff with expertise to provide the one-on-one education needed to encourage vaccination and regular visits to the doctor."

To slow the spread of measles, "rural health care teams have cordoned off spaces to conduct measles testing," Salhotra writes. They've "used social media to blast residents with information about vaccination efficacy and schlepped throat swabs across counties to ship them to a state lab in Austin — the only public state facility that was conducting measles testing until the Texas Tech University Bioterrorism Response Laboratory, part of a national network of CDC-funded labs, began measles testing" recently.

The primary goal of public health is prevention; however, "it’s emergencies that spur the most action, particularly in rural communities," Salhotra explains. "It was only after a school-aged child died from measles that state and federal support intensified."

Currently, Texas "spends less on public health per person than the vast majority of other states, according to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center, whose analysis shows Texas spent $17 per person on public health in 2023. A decade earlier, the spend was $19," Salhotra reports. "The low levels of state funding particularly hurt rural communities that have higher rates of uninsured Texans and more senior citizens with greater health needs."

National vaccination rates may continue to slump as states relax vaccination mandates

Child vaccination rates continue to decline.
(CDC photo, Unsplash)

Sliding vaccine rates could become a national trend as several states relax vaccine requirements and reduce promotion efforts, reports Shalina Chatlani of States Newsroom. "Vaccination rates are lower than they were before the pandemic."

Even with a growing measles outbreak in Texas, many Americans continue to reject or remain uncertain about vaccination requirements. "Public health experts worry that the confirmation of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services could add fuel to such efforts, leading to the resurgence of long-tamed infectious diseases," Chatlani explains. "Kennedy has made numerous baseless or false claims about vaccines."

Before the pandemic, most Americans accepted vaccination mandates as a medical directive based on scientific expertise, but that has changed. Al Cross, director emeritus of the Institute for Rural Journalism at the University of Kentucky, explained the shift, "Public health was once about doctors and nurses, and when it became defined in the public mind as coming from politicians, trust in it eroded quickly."

Without that trust, more parents have sought vaccination exemptions for their children. Chatlani reports, "Changing attitudes have had an impact: Vaccination rates among children born in 2020 and 2021 declined by between 1.3 and 7.8 percentage points for recommended shots, compared with children born in 2018 and 2019, according to a September report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The accepted reasons parents can use to avoid state vaccination requirements are also likely to increase. "Republican officials in more than a dozen states have introduced legislation to loosen vaccine rules or otherwise reduce their use," Chatlani adds. An Idaho Senate panel recently considered a bill "that would ban mRNA vaccines, including Covid-19 vaccines, for a decade. Montana and Mississippi lawmakers considered but defeated similar proposals."

Despite the death of an unvaccinated child from measles, many community members continue to resist vaccinations

Measles can spread with 'extraordinary efficiency, hanging in the air for hours even after a carrier leaves a room.' (NPR graphic from The Lancet created by Alice Design from The Noun Project)

Despite a measles outbreak, including the death of an unvaccinated child in Gaines County, Texas, anti-vaccination proponents in Seminole, Texas, a small town just 80 miles from Lubbock, resist the measles vaccine for adults or children.

"The life-threatening measles outbreak in West Texas starkly illustrates the stakes of slipping immunization rates and the ascension of vaccine skeptics," report Fenit Nirappil and Elana Gordon of The Washington Post. "And it has revealed how fear and the scientifically false claims of the anti-vaccine movement have seeped into communities. . .hardening attitudes about vaccines. . . in the face of a dangerous, preventable disease."

The measles outbreak in Texas is the state's "worst measles eruption in three decades, which has surged to 146 known cases, with the true toll likely much higher, exposing how under-vaccinated communities are unnecessarily vulnerable to one of the world’s most contagious diseases," the Post reports. The child that died was "6 years old and otherwise healthy."

The initial outbreak began in West Texas and rapidly spread from there. Nirappil and Gordon explain, "It spread across nine West Texas counties and crossed the border into New Mexico. . . . The outbreak spurred hundreds in the region to vaccinate themselves and their children as the threat of the virus became immediate. But it has made others dig in their heels, arguing that measles is no worse than chicken pox or the flu."

Even though science does not support the belief, anti-vaccination advocates believe immunization reactions are more dangerous than the diseases the shots prevent. The Post reports, "Medical experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say harm from vaccines is rare and is vastly outweighed by the risk of preventable disease. Two doses of the measles vaccine are 97% effective against the virus."

And while many children readily recover from a case of measles, it can have dire outcomes. "As many as 1 in 20 develop pneumonia, according to the CDC. One in 1,000 experience swelling of the brain, which can leave a child deaf or with an intellectual disability," Nirappil and Gordon add. "For every 1,000 children with measles, one or two die."

Measles can spread with "extraordinary efficiency, hanging in the air for hours even after a carrier leaves a room," the Post reports. "If it infiltrates a community with pockets of unvaccinated people, it’s like throwing a torch into a parched forest and igniting a wildfire."