Measles outbreak in Kansas rises to 37 cases, mostly unvaccinated patients

Robert A. Cronkleton, The Kansas City Star on Apr 16, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

The measles outbreak in Kansas continued to grow over the past week, driven largely by unvaccinated children and teens, according to health officials.

The Kansas Department Health and Environment reported Wednesday that there have been 37 positive cases of measles, up from 32 cases a week ago, according to the 2025 Kansas Measles Outbreak Dashboard.

The disease is concentrated in the southwestern part of Kansas and did not spread to any additional counties. Measles cases have been reported in eight Kansas counties: Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Haskell, Kiowa, Morton and Stevens counties.

The vast majority of cases, 31, involve patients who were not vaccinated, not fully vaccinated for their age or received a dose after being exposed to measles. Four cases involved patients who had been appropriately vaccinated, and two cases involved patients who could not verify their vaccinated status.

Children and teens comprise the majority of cases, with 11 cases involving children 4 years old and younger, and 19 cases involving those between 5 and 17. The remaining seven cases involve people 18 and older.

There has been one patient who has been hospitalized in Kansas, and no deaths.

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 cases spread across U.S.

The rise in measles cases in Kansas comes as the highly contagious disease spreads across the United States.

As of April 10, the number of confirmed measles cases jumped to 712, up from 607, an increase of 17%, reported a week earlier, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The disease has spread to two additional states with cases being reported in 24 states: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington.

About 32% of the cases involve children under 5 years, 38% involve children and teens between 5 and 19, and 28% involve adults.

There have been 79 hospitalizations, or 11% of all cases, and three deaths, two confirmed and one that remains under investigation.

In 97% of the cases, patients were unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown. Only 2% of the cases involved people who were fully vaccinated.