Monitoring Measles in Pennsylvania and U.S.

March 31, 2025

There have been nearly 500 measles cases reported across the nation this year, including new reports of the virus this month in Pennsylvania.

The recent reports have put a renewed focus on the importance of measles vaccination to help prevent the spread of the virus. Here’s what you need to know:

• By the numbers:  The CDC on Friday announced there were 483 confirmed measles cases reported by 20 states. Most of the cases stem from an outbreak in Texas.
  • In Texas, there have been 400 cases and 41 hospitalizations since January, officials said.
• In Pennsylvania:  Last week, the Bucks County Health Department announced it had identified a measles case tied to the Texas outbreak. On Sunday, the Erie County Department of Health announced it was conducting contact tracing following a third recent case of measles.
  • Additional reports were identified in Philadelphia and Montgomery counties this month.
• Vaccination trends:   Vaccination coverage among the nation’s kindergartners decreased from 95.2 percent during the 2019–2020 school year to 92.7 percent during the 2023–2024 school year.
  • In Pennsylvania, about 93.5 percent of kindergartners were vaccinated against the measles, which is down from 96.6 percent during the 2019–2020 school year.
• The bottom line:  People who are fully immunized are at very low risk of contracting measles, public health officials noted.
• Quotable:  “The reason many parents in the U.S. have not had to worry about measles in decades is because of widespread immunization with this safe and effective vaccine,” Susan Kressly, MD, FAAP, president, American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement last month. “However, when immunization rates drop in a community, the disease can spread, putting our most vulnerable—especially young children—at risk.”

This month, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) released a new playbook for infection prevention staff to support measles plans for their facilities. The CDC also released an advisory, interim infection prevention recommendations for health care settings, and a broader resource on symptoms and complications.

Additional information from the CDC is available online.