Measles cases rise to 64 in Kansas, expand to additional county
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- Kansas measles cases rose to 64 across 11 counties, up from 56 two weeks ago.
- Children under 18 account for 51 of 64 cases; most were unvaccinated or under-vaccinated.
- Nationwide measles cases hit 1,046 in 2025; 96% involve unvaccinated individuals.
The number of counties reporting positive cases of measles expanded to 11 over the weekend and comes as the number of cases in the state continue to grow, according the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Over the weekend, the KDHE and the Pawnee County Health Department reported a positive case of the highly contagious disease involving a resident there.
It was unknown if the case is associated with the ongoing outbreak in southwest Kansas, the KDHE said.
The number of measles cases reported in the state now stands at 64, up from 56 cases two weeks ago, according to data from KDHE’s 2025 Kansas Measles Case Data dashboard.
The vast majority of the cases, 59, are related to the outbreak concentrated in the southwestern part of Kansas. The number of cases known to be related to the outbreak increased by five over the past two weeks. There have been three hospitalizations and no deaths connected to the outbreak.
Measles cases have been reported in eight counties in that area: Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Haskell, Kiowa, Morton and Stevens counties.
Elsewhere, measles case as have been reported in Pawnee, Reno and Sedgwick counties.
Children, teens make up majority of cases in Kansas
Children and teens account for the vast majority of cases, with 22 involving children 4 years and younger, 18 involving children between 5 an 10, seven involving children between 11 and 13, and four between 14 and 17. The remaining 12 cases include people 18 and older.
The data shows that overall, white patients account for 63 of the cases. The race of remaining patient is unknown. Of the cases where race is listed as white, 58 are listed as being not Hispanic or Latino, five are listed as Hispanic or Latino and one is listed as unknown.
Overall vaccination rates are not provided. For the cases related to the outbreak in southwest Kansas, only five cases involve patients who had been appropriately vaccinated.
The majority of cases, 51, involve patients who were not vaccinated, not fully vaccinated for their age, or received a dose after being exposed to measles. Three cases involved patients who could not verify their vaccination status.
Measles cases continue to rise in the United States
As of May 22, 1,046 confirmed cases of measles have been reported in the United States, up from 1,001 measles cases as of May 8, according to data from the U.S. Centers Disease Control and Prevention.
Measles have been reported in 30 states: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York State, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
There have been 14 outbreaks reported in 2025, totaling 961 cases, or 92% of the confirmed cases for this year. In comparison, there were 16 outbreaks reported in 2024, and 69%, 198 of the total of 285 cases for the year, were associated with the outbreaks.
About 30% of the cases involve children under the age of 5, 37% involve patients 5 to 19, 32% include adults 20 and older, and 1% whose age was unknown, according to the CDC. About 96% of the cases include unvaccinated patients or those whose vaccination status was unknown. Another 1% involved patients who had received only one dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Only 2% of the patients had received two doses of the vaccine.
There have been 127 hospitalizations, or 12% of all cases, and three confirmed deaths.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 1:14 PM.
