Measles cases in Kansas more than double in one week; Most involve children under 18

Robert A. Cronkleton, The Kansas City Star on Mar 27, 2025

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The number of measles cases reported in Kansas more than doubled in the past week, and the outbreak may have a possible link to the outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico, a state health official spokesperson said Thursday.

As of Wednesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is reporting 23 positive cases of measles, up from 10 they reported last Friday.

The measles outbreak is concentrated in the southwestern part of Kansas, with the disease spreading to three additional counties this past week. It now includes cases in Grant, Gray, Haskel, Kiowa, Morton and Stevens counties.

“The confirmed cases in Kansas have a possible link to the outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico,” said Jill Bronaugh, communications director for the KDHE. “While genetic sequencing of the first Kansas case reported is consistent with an epidemiological link to the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks, the source of exposure is still unknown.”

The KDHE, along with local health departments in the affected counties, are working to notify people who may have been exposed. There have been no hospitalizations or deaths reported relating to the measles cases in Kansas.

In response to the outbreak, the KDHE launched a 2025 Kansas Measles Outbreak Dashboard on Thursday, which will be updated every Wednesday with measles case counties.

All but two cases involve patients under the age of 18, according to KDHE data. Nine of the cases involve children between the ages of 5 and 10 years old, and six patients were 4 years old and younger. There are three patients between the ages of 11 and 13 years old and an additional three between 14 and 17 years old.

The remaining two cases involve adults, one between the ages of 25 and 34, and the other between the ages of 35 and 44.

The vast majority, 20, involve patients who were not vaccinated, according to the KDHE data. One case involved a patient who had received a dose but either hadn’t received a second dose to be immune or received a dose after being exposed. One case is pending on verification of the patient’s vaccination status, while the remaining case involved a person who was appropriately vaccinated.

As of March 20, 2025, the most recent data available, a total of 378 confirmed measles cases were reported in 18 states: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont and Washington, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC will update the number of cases on Friday.

Vaccination rates are declining in the U.S.

Health officials have stated that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and effective. When more than 95% of the people in a community are vaccinated, most people are protected through community immunity, often referred to as herd immunity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Measles were officially considered eliminated from the United States in 2000, with new cases only being reported when someone contracted measles abroad and then returned to the United States.

However, vaccination rates among U.S. kindergartners decreased from 95.2% during the 2019-2020 school year to 92.7% in the 2023-2024 school year.

Most of the public school districts in Kansas counties experiencing the outbreak have vaccination rates that are well below the recommended 95% threshold.

The Hugoton Public Schools district in Stevens County had an 83.3% vaccination rate. In comparison, the Sublette Unified School District in Haskell County had a vaccination rate of 44.4%, according to KDHE data for the 2023-2024 school year. Other school districts in the area had vaccination rates ranging from 60% to 100%.

Statewide for both Kansas and Missouri, 90.4% of the incoming kindergartners in the 2023-24 school year had received the MMR vaccine. CDC data shows that only 15 states had lower coverage rates.