One of the most contagious viruses in the world is spreading around the United States. So far in 2025 there have been three distinct measles outbreaks and at least 164 cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coming from nine states.
The largest of the outbreaks is in West Texas, where the total number of people diagnosed with measles grew to 146 on Friday. An unvaccinated child in the region died last week. It was the first measles death in the U.S. since 2015.
While the focus in recent weeks has been on Texas, eight other states have confirmed cases of the virus, the CDC reports. Nine cases have been confirmed in New Mexico’s Lea County, and at least one case has been confirmed in Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island.
Twenty percent of the reported cases have required hospitalization, according to the CDC. Most of those infected have been children.
The virus is airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs.
“On average, one infected person may infect about 15 other people,” said Scott Weaver, a center of excellence director for the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. “There’s only a few viruses that even come close to that.”