HealthDay News — Measles cases in the United States have reached their highest level in 25 years, with more than 1270 confirmed cases this year. [Clinical Advisor]

That number surpasses the last record of 1274 cases set in 2019, according to new data from Johns Hopkins University.

Experts suspect the true number may be much higher, since many cases go unreported. So far this year, 3 people in the US have died from measles: Two children in Texas and 1 adult in New Mexico. All of them were unvaccinated, CNN reported.

“With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses,” said Dr Bruce A. Scott, president of the American Medical Association.

Measles — one of the world’s most contagious diseases — was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, due to widespread use of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The new cases dovetail with a significant drop in vaccination rates.

The biggest outbreak, more than 750 cases so far, started in West Texas in January. Gaines County, where the outbreak began, has one of the lowest childhood vaccination rates in the state.

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