Dozens of cases of measles have been reported at a Florida university as the US faces another historic outbreak.
Officials at Ava Maria University, a private institution in south Florida, announced Wednesday that nurses have assessed seven students with measles this week.
This brings the university’s total cases to 57 since the start of the semester last month. The university said the 50 students who were infected within the last month have progressed beyond the four-day contagious period and now have natural immunity against measles.
No further identifying details were provided about the students, and it is unclear how many were fully vaccinated. In a campus health update, officials said ‘the vast majority’ of the university’s 1,300 students have received both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The university said doctors, nurses and coordinators from the Florida Department of Health (DOH) and Healthcare Network (HCN) are on-site providing care and guidance in collaboration with the campus health clinic.
DOH is also conducting contact tracing and exposure assessment ‘while assisting with medical guidance and on-campus clinical services.’
‘Students are receiving comprehensive medical and nursing support services, including meals, housing, academics and spiritual care,’ the university said.
The outbreak comes amid a nationwide surge of highly contagious measles, particularly in South Carolina, where nearly 1,000 residents have been infected since October 2025.
Officials at Ava Maria University (pictured above) have warned of 57 cases of measles in students
In Florida, 68 people total have been infected so far in 2026, DOH data shows.
Nationwide data from Johns Hopkins Center for Outbreak Response Innovation shows there have been 842 cases of measles so far in 2026, 605 of which are in South Carolina.
Federal data shows 93 percent of Americans have gotten both doses of the MMR, which are typically given in early childhood. This, however, is below the CDC’s 95 percent threshold for herd immunity.
Before the Covid pandemic, Florida had an MMR vaccination rate of 93 percent. However, it has since dipped to 89 percent.
According to Ava Maria University’s website, all students must provide evidence of MMR vaccination or submit a signed waiver declining vaccination ‘after being made aware of the risks’ associated with the disease.
The two-dose shot is 97 percent effective at preventing measles, according to the CDC. The MMR shot is typically given once between ages 12 and 15 months and again between ages four and six.
Measles is a highly infectious disease characterized by flu-like symptoms such as cough and fever, a distinctive, blotchy rash that starts in the face before spreading down the body and tiny white spots inside the mouth called Koplik spots.
Measles causes a distinctive rash as pictured in the above stock image. In severe cases, it can also lead to pneumonia and brain swelling
It spreads through direct contact with infectious droplets or through the air. Patients with a measles infection are contagious from four days before the rash through four days after the rash appears. Enclosed areas like airports and planes are extremely risky locations for disease transmission.
It first invades the respiratory system, then spreads to the lymph nodes and throughout the body. As a result, the virus can affect the lungs, brain and central nervous system.
While measles sometimes causes milder symptoms, including diarrhea, sore throat and achiness, it leads to pneumonia in roughly six percent of otherwise healthy children, and more often in malnourished children.
Though the brain swelling that measles can trigger is rare, occurring in about one in 1,000 cases, it is deadly in roughly 15 to 20 percent of those who develop it, while about 20 percent are left with permanent neurological damage such as brain damage, deafness or intellectual disability.
Measles also severely damages a child’s immune system, making them susceptible to other potentially devastating bacterial and viral infections they were previously protected against.
