Measles is now spreading in Florida, with 68 cases reported in the state already this year.<\/p>\n
Florida Department of Health tracking shows<\/a> that as of Feb. 7, the most recent data available, most cases in the state of the highly infectious disease are in Collier County, where, each day, more students and professors at Ave Maria University near Naples are showing symptoms. Although the state\u2019s tracking charts show 45 cases in college-aged students in the area, the university said in a statement this week that the total number of cases is nearer to 60.<\/p>\n In a statement on its website, the university said that its \u201congoing priority remains the health, safety and well-being of every member of our campus community.\u201d The school will continue to provide support through ongoing monitoring and quarantine protocols, free vaccinations, and \u201ctransparent communication,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n Broward and Miami-Dade counties each have one reported case of the disease. Broward\u2019s case involves a 10- to 14-year-old, while Miami-Dade\u2019s involves a child under 4 years old.<\/p>\n Last week, the University of Florida said it was investigating two college classrooms where measles exposures may have occurred. The university said in a statement that health officials had already begun contacting people in the two classrooms. It did not say that measles had been detected in anyone connected to the university.<\/p>\n State records show two confirmed measles cases in college-age adults in Alachua County, where the university is located.<\/p>\n The vaccination status of those infected is not disclosed.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, has aggressively campaigned to eliminate vaccine requirements, even as the measles spreads in the U.S. Measles is a highly infectious virus that spreads when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. The disease often exhibits as a rash and can result in severe illness, including pneumonia and encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, which can lead to seizures, hallucinations, permanent brain damage, blindness, hearing loss and memory loss<\/p>\n CBS News has tracked more than 1,000 confirmed cases<\/a> nationwide in 2026, about half the number of cases recorded in all of 2025.<\/p>\n In Florida last year, only seven measles cases were reported statewide.<\/p>\n Vaccination rates for measles among kindergarten-aged children in Florida have dropped from about 93% in 2019-20 to about 88.8% in 2024-25, according to the CDC. The rate is\u00a0well below the national average of 93%.<\/p>\n