U.S. Measles Cases Hit 314 This Year

There have been at least 314 reported cases of measles in the United States so far this year, new government data shows.

That’s 46 more than last week and includes cases reported by state health departments to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through March 21, CNN reported Monday.

The number of cases so far this year is just 58 fewer than the 372 cases reported nationwide for all of last year. That was the second-highest number in two decades.

The CDC said that the number of states with reported measles cases is the same as last week, 15: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease that was eliminated in the United States in 2000. But it was reintroduced to the country by unvaccinated or undervaccinated people who came from or visited countries where the highly contagious disease is still circulating, CNN reported.

Anti-vaccination groups have helped fuel rising rates of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States, health officials say.

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