--- title: Measles Cases Surpass 150 in U.S. description: Most people with the disease are not vaccinated canonical: https://time.com/3719137/measles-cases-vaccines/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-23T18:41:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:38:18.025Z article:section: Health og:title: Measles Outbreak In U.S. Tops 150 Cases og:description: Most people with the disease are not vaccinated og:url: https://time.com/3719137/measles-cases-vaccines/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt196928edd0cc7095/69877e7b5f570f5185b15313/measles-vaccine2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A single dose of MMR for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella at Kaiser Permanente East Medical offices on Feb. 3, 2015 in Denver, CO. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Measles Outbreak In U.S. Tops 150 Cases twitter:description: Most people with the disease are not vaccinated twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt196928edd0cc7095/69877e7b5f570f5185b15313/measles-vaccine2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Measles Outbreak in U.S. Tops 150 Cases ## Video: Science Cop: Chris Christie's Bad Vaccine Advice [Watch (HLS stream): Science Cop: Chris Christie's Bad Vaccine Advice](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bNqPpjwK.m3u8) (2:54)  _Published 2015-02-05. Chris Christie's bad advice on vaccines gets him in to trouble with TIME's Science Cop Jeffrey Kluger._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 23, 2015 6:41 PM UTC  A single dose of MMR for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella at Kaiser Permanente East Medical offices on Feb. 3, 2015 in Denver, CO. A single dose of MMR for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella at Kaiser Permanente East Medical offices on Feb. 3, 2015 in Denver, CO.Joe Amon—Denver Post via Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 23, 2015 6:41 PM UTC The number of measles cases in the U.S. has reached 154, according to new numbers released Monday. Between Jan. 1 to Feb. 20, more than 150 cases in 17 different states have been reported to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC). The majority of these cases are tied to an outbreak linked to Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, Calif. Some have blamed the latest outbreak on parents who don’t vaccinate their children for measles — or [anti-vaxxers](http://time.com/3709780/measles-not-benign) — and the CDC reports that the majority of people who got measles were unvaccinated. Travelers from other parts of the world where the disease is still prevalent could also be bringing it into the U.S., the CDC said. There are currently three simultaneous outbreaks of the virus, the largest connected to Disneyland and the other two in Illinois and Nevada. In 2014, the U.S. experienced a major outbreak of measles that totaled 383 cases and was primarily spreading among an unvaccinated Amish community in Ohio. Two doses of the measles vaccine (MMR) are nearly 100% effective at preventing the disease, which is [highly contagious](http://time.com/3693618/measles-contagious/). The CDC recommends all children get their first dose of the vaccine at ages 12 through 15 months and the second dose at ages 4 to 6. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3719137/measles-cases-vaccines/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3719137/measles-cases-vaccines/"},"headline":"Measles Outbreak in U.S. Tops 150 Cases","datePublished":"2015-02-23T18:41:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:38:18.025Z","description":"Most people with the disease are not vaccinated","url":"https://time.com/3719137/measles-cases-vaccines/","keywords":["California","Infectious Disease","measles","outbreak","vaccine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt196928edd0cc7095/69877e7b5f570f5185b15313/measles-vaccine2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt196928edd0cc7095/69877e7b5f570f5185b15313/measles-vaccine2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A single dose of MMR for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella at Kaiser Permanente East Medical offices on Feb. 3, 2015 in Denver, CO.","caption":"A single dose of MMR for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella at Kaiser Permanente East Medical offices on Feb. 3, 2015 in Denver, CO.","creditText":"Joe Amon—Denver Post via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3719137/measles-cases-vaccines/","name":"Measles Outbreak in U.S. Tops 150 Cases"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Science Cop: Chris Christie's Bad Vaccine Advice","description":"Chris Christie's bad advice on vaccines gets him in to trouble with TIME's Science Cop Jeffrey Kluger.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bNqPpjwK/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-05T23:35:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bNqPpjwK.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3719137/measles-cases-vaccines/","duration":"PT2M54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3719137/measles-cases-vaccines/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```