Louisiana, Missouri and Virginia are reporting the first measles cases in 2025 and say all three cases are linked to international travel, reports NBC News.

The most recent reported case in northwest Virginia is of a child aged 0 to 4 who recently traveled overseas, according to the state health department. Officials did not specify whether the child had been vaccinated against the virus.

"This first case of measles in Virginia this year is a reminder of how easily this highly contagious disease can spread, especially when traveling internationally," said state epidemiologist Laurie Forlano. "Vaccination remains our best protection against measles and is safe and very effective in protecting people and preventing outbreaks."

The Virginia Department of Health has identified two Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Woodbridge and Fredericksburg as areas of potential exposure, adding that officials are working to help identify those exposed to the disease.

According to the Department of Health, the Louisiana case is of an elderly man from the southeastern part of the state who had not been vaccinated against measles. The patient received treatment at a hospital and is in isolation, where he will remain until he is no longer infectious.

"The LHD Public Health Office is working to identify and notify persons who have been in contact with the infected person," the department said.

The measles case in Missouri is linked to a child "associated with a recent trip abroad" who visited Taney County, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said. The child's age and vaccination status are unclear.

"There is no indication of widespread illness as this individual was diagnosed shortly after arriving in Taney County," the department said in an update. "Exposure is believed to be limited, and known contacts have been identified and contacted."

These cases come in the midst of the largest measles outbreak in the U.S. in six years. Even given the outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has remained relatively silent on the public health threat, providing only weekly information on its website and sending a warning to doctors last month.

Earlier this month, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced that the number of measles cases in the state had risen to 481 confirmed cases, including six toddlers at a Lubbock nursery school. Since the disease began spreading in late January, 56 people have been hospitalized in the area.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) sent 2,000 doses of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to Texas health officials at their request, but has not held a briefing on the disease since 2019, when two major outbreaks in New York threatened to reverse the United States' status as having eliminated the virus.

Before this year, there had not been a measles death in the United States in a decade, and a child had not died from measles since 2003. | BGNES