Home » News » 2025 » March
News Brief
March 27, 2025 |
By: Associated Press
Measles cases rising in outbreak counties or near
A measles outbreak in Kansas doubled in less than a week to 23 cases and has “a possible link” to outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico that have sickened more than 370, the state health department said Wednesday.
And health officials in Ohio say a single case identified in Ashtabula County has spread to nine others. Even before these two growing clusters were reported, the number of measles cases in the U.S. had already surpassed the case count for all of 2024, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment put doctors on high alert on Monday and recommended early vaccination for infants 6 to 11 months old who live in outbreak counties or near them. Usually, children get the measles, mumps and rubella shot after they turn 1. In outbreaks, early vaccination can be an option.
The state’s last count Friday included 10 cases across three southwestern counties: Grant, Morton and Stevens. Now, the outbreak includes Haskell, Gray, and Kiowa counties. All but two of the cases are in people younger than 18, state data shows.
