U.S. measles milestone: 59 cases so far in 2024 — more than all of 2023

(CBS NEWS) — The U.S. has now tallied at least 59 confirmed or suspected measles cases investigated so far this year by authorities in 17 states — more than the number of cases reported nationwide in all of 2023. It comes as health officials are grappling with multiple major outbreaks of the highly contagious virus around the world.

Now with spring break travel looming, health officials have ramped up pleas for Americans to double check whether they are up to date on the highly effective vaccines used to protect against measles.

“This is why it’s urgent for us to sort of address vaccination so that we can really decelerate sort of the march of measles, given the global scenario as well as what we’re seeing with some vaccination rates in the country,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Friday’s tally of measles cases is up from 45 counted by the CDC last week. Additional infections have since been announced in Arizona, California, Illinois and Ohio.

While infections have climbed, Daskalakis said counts still remain small enough to make it difficult for officials to navigate privacy concerns in releasing additional demographic trends of cases so far. Investigations are also still ongoing to collect that information.

Daskalakis said the majority of cases so far have been linked to unvaccinated Americans returning to the U.S. with the virus.

“Measles is a easily preventable disease with a readily available and safe vaccine. And so, as we are seeing more cases in the U.S., we have the technology and the ability to be able to prevent measles,” he said.

The CDC updated its guidance Wednesday to counsel Americans who are unsure if they’re up to date on their shots to seek out a doctor at least six weeks before their trip.

Here’s what we know about the outbreaks so far this year.

So far this year, 17 states – Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington – have reported at least one case.

Illinois has reported the most measles cases in recent weeks, with 12 total infections reported in Chicago. Of them, 10 were residents at a migrant shelter. Two cases are not related to the shelter outbreak, a spokesperson for the city’s health department said.

The CDC deployed a team to Chicago on March 12 to work with the city to investigate and curb the spread of the virus, and support the city’s vaccination campaign.

Daskalakis praised the Chicago team responding to the cases. The city was the first to invite CDC to help in a measles outbreak response so far this year.

He said the agency would likely gather lessons learned from Chicago’s response to help other cities too, citing his previous experience as a top-ranking health official in New York City during past large outbreaks there.

“I could see the lessons from the New York experience being built into this response. So the answer is yes, we always iterate and I’m sure we’ll learn some things from Chicago that will be valuable in other settings as well,” Daskalakis said.

Florida has reported the next most cases, with 10 infections so far this year. All but one of the cases was reported in Broward County, after a Miami-area elementary school reported an outbreak.

CDC laboratories were tapped to help in investigating the genotype of the virus behind that outbreak, which can aid in narrowing down leads for the outbreak’s origin.

Most of the cases nationwide have been confirmed through laboratory testing. Two cases remain suspected, in Ohio’s Clermont County and Arizona’s Coconino County.