Texas’ outbreak began in late January. State health officials said Friday there were 36 new cases of measles since Tuesday, bringing the total to 541 across 22 counties — most of them in West Texas. A total of 56 Texans have been hospitalized throughout the outbreak.

Kidz City Daycare at the Chooselife Church and a Denny's location have been listed as potential exposure areas.

There are 712 confirmed cases of measles across 24 states, with new outbreaks confirmed in Arkansas, Hawaii and Indiana, according to the latest update from the CDC on Friday, far surpassing the 285 measles cases reported in the entirety of 2024.

The multistate outbreak confirms health experts’ fears that the virus will take hold in other U.S. communities with low vaccination rates.

Representative Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania said in a CNN town hall that "unchecked migration" from Latin America was "bringing these diseases into our country."

A large measles outbreak that spread through parts of New York State for nearly 12 months nearly cost the country its elimination status in 2019. The outbreak was contained in large part because of aggressive vaccine mandates, which helped substantially increase childhood immunization rates in the community.

Credit: AP/Annie Rice How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico? Texas' outbreak began in late January. State health officials said Tuesday there were 24 new cases of measles since ...

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that's airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the US since 2000.