US Measles Cases Total More in New Year So Far Than All of 2023

Health authorities say a majority of the cases thus far have been linked to unvaccinated Americans returning to the US with the virus after traveling abroad.

At least 17 states in the US have reported cases of measles as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At the same time, health officials worldwide are grappling with outbreaks of the highly contagious virus. The rise in cases has been blamed on missed vaccinations as a result of various reasons, including school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US states of Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington have contributed to the total 58 cases.

Illinois has reported the most measles cases with 12 infections in Chicago. Of those, at least 10 were residents at a migrant shelter. But some US cases have not been linked to international travel.

Two suspected cases were reported on Friday, bringing the total for the year 2024 alone equal to or higher than all of 2023. But the number has not reached that of 2019, during which 1,274 individual cases of measles were confirmed in 31 states—the greatest number of cases reported in the US since 1992.

With spring break travel in the US just a month away, health officials in the US are asking Americans to check if they are up to date on their measles vaccinations. The CDC also advised those who are not vaccinated to get their shot at least six weeks before traveling. Meanwhile, babies are recommended to get vaccinated for measles before international travel as early as six months old.

A report claims that the CDC launched investigations of measles exposures through February 20 in arriving international flights that came from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye. Other outbreaks this year have also been linked to travel in Europe.

In 2019 the cases worldwide reached nearly 900,000, and global measles deaths climbed nearly 50% since 2016, killing roughly 207,500 people in 2019 alone, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Measles, which can be prevented with vaccination, was once a common childhood infection caused by a virus, according to Mayo Clinic. The disease is also called rubeola, and can be serious and most of the fatalities it makes up are in children. It causes a red, blotchy rash that usually appears first on the face and behind the ears, before spreading across the whole body.

Signs usually appear around 10 to 14 days after exposure and include a fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat, conjunctivitis, white spots with bluish centers inside the mouth or cheek.