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Kansas reports 89 measles cases; state health department urges exposure notifications and vaccination
Summary
KDHE says Kansas had 89 confirmed measles cases as of early July 2025, mostly among children and in several western counties; officials brief lawmakers on hospitalizations, exposure locations and federal funding limitations for outbreak response.
Dr. Derek Daughton, chief medical officer at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), briefed the committee on the national and in-state measles outbreak during the July 9 meeting.
Daughton said 2025 became the largest measles year in the United States since 1992, with CDC reporting more than 1,200 cases nationwide in early July. In Kansas, the department had documented 89 total cases, 86 of them associated with a large outbreak spanning 11 counties; the greatest numbers were in Gray and Haskell counties. KDHE data show most Kansas cases are children: roughly 80% of cases statewide were in people younger than 18.
Daughton told the committee that 92% of U.S. cases and a similar share locally were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. Hospitalizations were concentrated among young children: the national CDC data cited about 155 hospitalizations and three deaths in the Southwest outbreak region (Texas and New Mexico). As of the slide deck submission, Kansas had seen no deaths attributable to this outbreak.
KDHE investigators have identified specific public-exposure locations when possible. If investigators cannot determine and notify every contact (for example, because the infectious person visited a public location without entry lists), KDHE issues public exposure notices on its dashboard; at the time of the presentation the department had one public exposure location posted.
Committee members asked about costs and funding. Daughton cited prior analyses showing median outbreak costs per event of about $152,000 and median cost per case estimated at about $32,805; applying those estimates to Kansas case counts produced a rough state response cost estimate of about $2.6 million through June. He said federal funds are limited: the CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) cooperative agreement provides roughly $330,000 for vaccine-preventable disease response work, including some salary and laboratory support, but there is no dedicated federal or state contingency fund for a large outbreak.
KDHE’s messages to the committee included: (1) most cases are associated with outbreaks and mostly involve unvaccinated children; (2) public notifications are used when individual contacts cannot be identified; and (3) the state lacks a large dedicated contingency fund for outbreak responses, relying instead on cooperative agreement monies that cover limited response costs.
Ending: KDHE urged continued vaccination outreach and coordination with local health departments and community partners. Lawmakers asked KDHE to provide county-level immunization rates and additional outbreak cost details as follow up.
