The U.S. measles outbreak that started in West Texas is continuing to grow, with 25 more cases reported there over the last five days, bringing the total to 223, according to the data.

Almost all of the confirmed cases are in unvaccinated individuals or people whose vaccination status is unknown.

Public health experts say that's what concerns them the most.

Given the unprecedented percentage of parents who are choosing not to vaccinate their kids and the highly contagious nature of the measles virus, as Raven Santana reports, New Jersey still has just three reported cases of the illness.

But doctors are worried the outbreak could escalate quickly.

Here to in so doing.

Dr. Naveen Mehrotra says he has never seen so many parents decline vaccines for their kids in the over 30 years of being a pediatrician, especially when it comes to the mumps, measles and rubella vaccination.

When people started to associate the MMR vaccine with autism and they said, Oh, my kid's going to have the MMR vaccine and they're going to get.

Autism, any link between autism and vaccines has been repeatedly debunked.

But Dr. Malhotra says the damage has already been done.

And people say, oh, it's a viral, you know, it will fight it off.

But no, these diseases can be very, very deadly.

And that's what we saw as now these cases are sprouting up in Texas and New Mexico.

Dr. Malhotra has been vocal about the measles outbreak and is now concerned, given the growing number of cases being confirmed in New Jersey by the New Jersey Department of Health.

Well, right now, in 2025, to date, we have three confirmed cases of measles and we have two additional cases that are close contacts associated with the first case that was identified in mid-February.

Globally, we're recognizing that there's increased measles activity.

And because of that, there's more of a chance for unvaccinated individuals who are not protected against measles.

Reintroducing measles back into the United States, New.

Jersey allows for parents to decline vaccines if they claim religious exemptions.

State epidemiologist Dr. Christina Tan says according to the CDC, vaccination rates are down for kindergartners from the previous year.

Looking at the percentage of kids in kindergarten meeting, all vaccination requirements, including measles containing vaccine, is under 95%.

And in New Jersey, for the 2023 to 2024 school year, it was about 93% of.

The more than 2000 patients he sees annually.

He says about 100 or so decline vaccines, including the MMR right here, which also protects against measles.

Right.

They keep on saying, well, I need to do my research or hey, I think I want to go ahead and, you know, you're pushing these vaccines on me and I don't really want them.

I don't know if they're really beneficial to me.

So some one of the common things that, you know, which I tell these patients doesn't make sense.

They said, well, you know, why do we have to take a polio vaccine?

There's no polio out there.

But I said, the reason you don't see polio is because these vaccines have been used for so many years.

Once a lie is out there, it is very hard to undo.

Then you add in the pandemic fears about vaccine, significant myths and disinformation that are now being spread by the person who is most in charge of our public health systems in the United States.

And it is very dangerous.

Montclair State University professor and epidemiologist Stephanie Silvera says her biggest concern is the rapid increases in cases in 2025.

In all of 2024, there were about 285 cases.

We're at the very beginning of March and we already have 222 cases.

Dr. Marc Fisher says it's important to know what signs and symptoms to look out for.

The symptoms start with a fever, high fever, not a little fever.

Big fevers under 102 hundred, 304.

So fever and sores and a significant cause.

So it's big cost fever, big cause.

Then in your eyes turn red.

And all of this happens for several days before you get the rash.

Dr. Fisher warns the virus can remain in the air for several hours once someone who has it sneezes or coughs.

Other complications related to the virus include pneumonia, swelling of the brain, and measles in pregnant women can lead to miscarriage and preterm birth.

Silvera says the virus is so contagious that just one ill person can infect between 12 and 18 unvaccinated individuals.

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