Measles outbreak in Kansas continues to grow, inches closer to Kansas City

Robert A. Cronkleton, The Kansas City Star on May 8, 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 number of reported measles cases in Kansas grew slightly over the past week, and while the outbreak has not spread to the Kansas City metro, it is getting closer.

The state saw two new cases, bringing the total number to 48 cases as of Wednesday morning, up from 46 cases a week ago, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s 2025 Kansas Measles Outbreak Dashboard.

There has been one hospitalization and no deaths, so far.

The outbreak is concentrated in the southwestern part of Kansas. Measles cases have been reported in eight Kansas Counties: Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Haskell, Kiowa, Morton and Stevens counties.

However, the numbers do not include the confirmed case of measles that Sedgwick County health officials reported Wednesday — its first case in eight years.

The new case is the first one in a major metropolitan area in Kansas this year. It involves a child between the ages of 5 and 10 who is unvaccinated, health officials said in a news release.

Anyone who visited the Carnicerías El Güero grocery store No. 1 at 524 W 21st St. N. in Wichita April 29 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. may have been exposed to the virus, health department officials said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Outbreak driven by unvaccinated children, teens

Unvaccinated children and teens primarily drive Kansas’ outbreak.

The vast majority of cases, 41, 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 three involved patients who could not verify their vaccination status.

Children and teens comprise the majority of cases, with 15 cases involving children 4 years and younger, and 24 cases involving patients between 5 and 17. The remaining nine cases include people 18 and older.

Health officials have said 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.

More than 900 cases reported across U.S.

The highly contagious disease has been spreading across the United States.

As of May 1, officials are reporting a total of 935 confirmed measles cases, up from nearly 900 measles cases as of April 25, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 30% of the cases involve children under the age of 5, 38% involve patients 5 to 19, and 30% include adults 20 and older, according to the CDC. About 96% of the cases include unvaccinated patients or those whose vaccination status was unknown. Another 2% involved patients who had received only one dose of the MMR vaccination.

Measles cases have been reported in 29 states: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

There have been 12 outbreaks, which are defined as three or more related cases, reported this year, and 93% of the cases are outbreak-associated.

There have been 121 hospitalizations, or 13% of all cases, and three deaths. The percentage of children under 5 who were hospitalized was 23%, compared to 8% for those 5 to 19 and 20 and older.