Half of US states have reported measles cases this year

Half of states in the US are now reporting measles cases, with the national total surpassing 800 cases so far this year, according to a CNN tally.

Half of states in the US are now reporting measles cases, with the national total surpassing 800 cases so far this year, according to a CNN tally. Most of the cases are concentrated in a multistate outbreak involving Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and possibly Kansas that reached 709 cases Friday, according to state health department updates. Texas has reported 597 outbreak-associated cases, New Mexico reported 63 cases, and Oklahoma reported 12 cases – nine confirmed and three probable – as of Friday. New Mexico and Oklahoma’s numbers have stayed the same since Tuesday. Cases in Kansas, which the state health department says may be linked to the larger outbreak, have reached 37 as of Wednesday. Experts say these numbers are all a severe undercount because many cases are going unreported. The multistate outbreak has put 69 people in the hospital across Texas, New Mexico and Kansas, five more since Tuesday’s update.