{"id":154702,"date":"2026-02-13T19:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T19:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/154702\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T19:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T19:15:17","slug":"measles-cases-at-university-in-florida-soar-to-nearly-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/154702\/","title":{"rendered":"Measles cases at university in Florida soar to nearly 60"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At least 21 U.S. states have confirmed cases of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/united-states-measles-outbreak-south-carolina-elimination\/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:measles;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">measles<\/a> as outbreaks continue spread across the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At Ave Maria University near Naples, Florida, measles cases have soared to nearly 60. A sophomore at the school, who is unvaccinated, told CBS News he developed symptoms before he tested positive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Honestly, at first, it \u2026 kind of felt like a head cold,&#8221; the student said. &#8220;I started to get a little rash and then like I started to get a sore throat, a cough.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At a clinic across the street from campus, Dr. Raul Enad said he&#8217;s treated two measles patients \u2013 a student and a professor, both of whom were vaccinated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The professor, she was in contact with a student who had a severe illness, severe manifestation,&#8221; Enad said. &#8220;She would have been more sick if she had not been vaccinated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a statement on its website, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.avemaria.edu\/campus-health-update?ftag=YHF4eb9d17\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the university;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">the university<\/a> said that its &#8220;ongoing priority remains the health, safety and well-being of every member of our campus community.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Surging cases across U.S.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The U.S. is now at risk of losing its measles-elimination status for the first time in more than two decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It&#8217;s just the cost of doing business with our borders being somewhat porous for global and international travel,&#8221; principal deputy director at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/measles-elimination-rfk-jr-cdc-deputy-downplays\/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:CDC, Ralph Abraham;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">CDC, Ralph Abraham<\/a>, said last month. &#8220;We have these communities that choose to be unvaccinated. That&#8217;s their personal freedom.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">CBS News has tracked more than 1,000 confirmed cases nationwide in 2026, which is approximately half of what was recorded in all of 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Three years ago at this time, there were only two cases of the highly contagious virus, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">South Carolina continues to have the largest outbreak with more than 900 cases since September.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The CDC recommends children receive their first dose of the MMR vaccine between 12 and 15 months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a good reminder that kids should get the measles shot,&#8221; FDA commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said. &#8220;We put out, the administration, what we consider core essential vaccines, measles is one of them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Symptoms of measles<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">According to the CDC, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/measles\/about\/index.html?ftag=YHF4eb9d17\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:measles symptoms;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">measles symptoms<\/a> &#8220;appear 7 to 14 days after contact with the virus.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Symptoms may include:<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">High fever (may spike to more than 104\u00b0 F)CoughRunny nose (coryza)Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)Rash<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In some cases, serious complications can develop, including pneumonia or encephalitis, a swelling of the brain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/videos\/white-tent-set-up-at-nancy-guthries-front-porch?ftag=YHFaf537c7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:White tent set up on Nancy Guthrie&#039;s front porch;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">White tent set up on Nancy Guthrie&#8217;s front porch<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/videos\/more-potential-evidence-in-nancy-guthrie-case-discovered?ftag=YHFaf537c7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:More potential evidence in Nancy Guthrie case discovered;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">More potential evidence in Nancy Guthrie case discovered<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/videos\/trump-threatens-senate-republicans-over-canada-tariffs?ftag=YHFaf537c7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Trump threatens Senate Republicans over Canada tariffs;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Trump threatens Senate Republicans over Canada tariffs<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At least 21 U.S. states have confirmed cases of measles as outbreaks continue spread across the country. At&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[67325,71149,28,30,29,17196,5387,74541],"class_list":{"0":"post-154702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-ave-maria-university","9":"tag-confirmed-cases","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-measles","14":"tag-naples","15":"tag-raul-enad"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}