US sees 733 measles cases nationwide in just over a month
Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium on February 27, 2025 in Seminole, Texas. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — There have been at least 733 confirmed measles cases reported across the nation, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed Friday.
It comes as South Carolina is dealing with the largest outbreak recorded since measles was declared eliminated within the U.S. in the year 2000.
A total of 20 states have reported cases so far including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Last year had a record breaking 2,276 cases nationwide, the highest number since 1992. There were also three measles deaths, the first in a decade.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
A woman receives a flu vaccination, October 15, 2025. Alejandro Martinez Velez/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Flu activity is increasing across the country, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New York City is seeing some of the highest levels of flu-like activity across the country. States including Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas are seeing “moderate” activity of respiratory illnesses. All other states are seeing low or very low levels.
The CDC estimates that there have been at least 4.6 million illnesses, 49,000 hospitalizations, and 1,900 deaths from flu this season so far.
The bulk of flu illnesses so far are being linked to the new variant known as subclade K, according to hundreds of samples sent to the CDC. Of just over 900 flu samples, roughly 90% were A(H3N2). Of those that had further genetic testing, nearly 90% belonged to subclade K.
The mutations seen in the new variant result in a mismatch with this season’s flu vaccine composition, the CDC notes. Experts believe that the flu vaccine will still help reduce the risk of severe illness, including hospitalization and death.
Two pediatric flu deaths were reported this week, bringing the total to three for this season. Last season had a record tying 288 die from flu – the same number during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. It’s the highest levels seen since 2004, which is when flu child deaths became mandatory for states to report to CDC.
About 90% of kids that died from flu last season were not vaccinated, a CDC study found. Flu vaccinations among kids have dropped 10% points lower than pre-pandemic with about 40% of kids getting the shot this season.
About 140 million doses of the flu vaccine have been distributed nationally so far this season, compared to 128 million last season.
The CDC recommends that everyone over the age of 6 months get their annual flu shot. Experts say it is not too late to get vaccinated.
(NEW YORK) — Colorectal cancer was once viewed as being mostly diagnosed among middle-age and older adults, but that’s changing.
Research shows more adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, with incidence increasing over the last three decades.
Deaths are on the rise too, with a recent study finding colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men — and second in women, under age 50.
“It’s definitely incredibly concerning that these rates continue to rise and that we really don’t know why this is happening,” Dr. Andrea Cercek, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, told ABC News.
Oncologists told ABC News that it’s important to get the word out about how colorectal cancer is affecting younger adults in an effort to try and reverse the trends.
Colorectal cancer rising among younger adults According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), incidence of colorectal cancer in adults between ages 20 and 39 has been rising about 2% every year since the mid-1990s.
What’s more, about one in five people currently being diagnosed with colorectal cancer are under age 55, ACS states.
“Two-thirds of the young patients present already as stage three and four, which is a sad fact,” Dr. Y. Nancy You, a professor of surgery in the department of colon & rectal surgery and medical director of the young-onset colorectal cancer program at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told ABC News.
Research shows it’s not only colorectal cancer cases that are on the rise among younger adults but deaths as well.
A study published earlier this month from ACS in the medical journal JAMA found that as of 2023, colorectal cancer has surpassed all other cancers as the leading cause of cancer deaths among Americans under age 50.
Since 2005, deaths from colon and rectal cancers in those under age 50 have risen by 1.1% every year, the study found.
“Whenever we see rates increasing for cancers in younger individuals, it does lead to concern as to why this is happening and also how these individuals may know that they could start screening at younger ages,” Dr. Veda Giri, a professor of internal medicine (medical oncology) and director of the early onset cancer program at at Yale School of Medicine, told ABC News.
“So, the concern comes up not only about why, but what can we do now based on our available ways of screening, detecting and treating cancers that we can now implement in this space of early onset colorectal cancer,” she added.
Why are cases, deaths related to colorectal cancer rising? Oncologists told ABC News they’re not sure why there’s an increase in colorectal cancer among younger adults, but research is ongoing.
Giri said some the rise could be tied to a higher consumption of ultra-processed foods and processed meats along with a lower intake of fiber or other food substances.
She said a great deal of research is being focused on the gut microbiome and whether disruptions from external exposures, such as diet or environment, may play a role.
“There’s been some work going on trying to characterize obesity patterns and rise in colorectal cancer,” Giri said. “Obesity might be a proxy for things like sedentary lifestyle, eating of these ultra-processed foods, and we certainly see a spectrum of patients where some with early onset colorectal cancer may have obesity, but they’re also individuals that are not obese.”
Risk factors including smoking and heavy alcohol use and have been linked with a higher likelihood of developing colorectal cancer.
A family history of colorectal cancer or colon polyps can also raise the risk of colorectal cancer as can genetic conditions such as Lynch syndrome.
Additionally, inflammatory bowel diseases, including chronic ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, can lead to long-term colon inflammation and raise the risk of colorectal cancer.
Experts believe that whatever is behind the rise, it’s likely to be caused by multiple factors rather than one factor.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a single smoking gun,” You said. “I think cancer is a complex disease. It’s heterogeneous. What makes a cell turn cancerous is probably a lot of factors.”
How to reverse the trend In 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force lowered the recommended age at which people at average risk should start screening from age 50 to age 45.
For those with a family history of colon cancer, doctors say people should start screening at either age 40 or 10 years before the age a family member was diagnosed, whichever comes first.
“If we can identify individuals at risk, then we could screen those individuals earlier,” Cercek said. “The problem is that we’ve lowered already screening age to 45, which captured a lot of the population, but the steepest rise is actually the 20 to 30 year olds.”
Doctors said they hope highlighting the risk younger Americans face will raise awareness and help them pay attention to any symptoms they develop.
The most common symptoms of colorectal cancer include persistent changes in bowel habits, unfinished bowel habits, rectal bleeding or blood in stool, abdominal pain or discomfort, unexplained weight loss and fatigue.
“We definitely don’t want to create like a reign of terror where any little thing will trigger a cancer worry or cancer workup,” You said. “But at the same time, I think there’s room to improve in terms of whenever somebody does present with symptoms to get them to a cancer workup faster than what is happening today.”
(NEW YORK) — As many as 724,000 service members, their families and veterans may rely on health care at hospitals that face financial vulnerability, partly due to cuts in President Donald Trump’s megabill, according to a new analysis.
The bill, known as HR.1, was signed into law in last summer and included sweeping changes to health care including Medicaid. Strict work requirements, reduced federal funding and tightening provider tax rules impacts hospitals that are dependent on Medicaid, increasing their risk of uncompensated care and reducing revenue.
Service members and their families — many of whom are covered by the military health insurance program TRICARE — rely heavily on civilian hospitals for health care, particularly in areas without military treatment facilities.
The analysis, conducted by researchers the Healthcare Quality and Outcomes Lab at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) and first viewed by ABC News, looked at how many TRICARE beneficiaries may be reliant on hospitals considered at risk of financial distress under these new changes.
The researchers said many hospitals rely so heavily on Medicaid reimbursements that cuts to the program under HR.1 will affect care the hospitals provide to other patients, including those in the military community.
“We wanted to get a sense of how many hospitals are potentially at risk for becoming potentially financially unstable with the upcoming looming HR.1 Medicaid cuts,” Dr. Jose Figueroa, co-author of the analysis and associate professor of Health Policy and Management at HPSH told ABC News. “There’s a big focus on rural hospitals, but it is not just rural hospitals at risk, that we were finding that across the country, many urban hospitals are at risk.”
Figueroa said medical services that many TRICARE beneficiaries need are often only offered in civilian hospitals or in civilian health care systems. These beneficiaries are then exposed to hospitals that are potentially at financial risk, he noted.
“Military active duty service members on TRICARE and their families also on TRICARE are increasingly relying on civilian hospitals for their care, even when they’re living within a military base,” Figueroa said. “If we’re finding evidence that there are many hospitals across the country that are at risk, to what extent will that affect military personnel and their families?”
TRICARE is run by the U.S. Department of Defense for those connected to the military, including active duty members, National Guard and reserve members, military retirees and their families. It is not the same as Medicaid, although some may qualify for both.
For their analysis, the team used three different criteria to identify a hospital that might be at risk.
If more than one in four of patients being treated at the hospital are on Medicaid, given that the HR.1. cuts are disproportionally affecting those on the federal health insurance program. If the hospital is a safety net hospital, which serves a large number of patients with no insurance or with Medicaid, or a critical access hospital, which is a rural facility that provides essential health care services to underserved communities. The Altman Z-score, which is an aggregate measure of the financial health of a hospital, combining liquidity, profitability, financial efficiency and solvency measures to categorize a hospital as being at risk for bankruptcy. About 4% of hospitals were considered at higher risk of financial distress — meeting three of the criteria and about 19% were at moderate risk of financial distress — meeting two — according to the analysis.
The team then used a dataset to help to identify 8.9 million TRICARE beneficiaries and their ZIP codes.
The analysis estimated that more than 117,000 TRICARE beneficiaries are currently living on or near military installations potentially exposed to a hospital at higher risk of financial distress. Additionally, more than 607,000 are living near a hospital with a moderate risk of financial distress.
This means that more than 724,000 TRICARE beneficiaries are living in military installation ZIP codes — including bases, camps, posts, depots and stations — where at least one hospital has multiple risk factors for financial distress.
Additionally, more than 3.5 million TRICARE beneficiaries living in ZIP codes without a military installation are potentially exposed to a higher-risk or moderate-risk hospital, the analysis found.
“As a country, we should do our best to take care of the people protecting us,” Figueroa said. “Military personnel and their family members should be protected, and sometimes we have to remind ourselves that drastic cuts to our health care that affect our health delivery system also affects our active military personnel and their families as well.”
Last month, during a Senate hearing, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Wolfe said troops were struggling to get health care appointments and made reference to issues with TRICARE’s reimbursement rate for providers.
“What we’ve all seen over the length of our careers is a gradual erosion in the availability of that health care for our service members and their families,” Wolfe said, according to the Military Times.
Based on the results of the Harvard analysis, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D- Mass., is launching an investigation into how the Pentagon is guiding military families through health care cuts and whether Republicans and the Trump administration consulted the Pentagon before the cuts were made, her office told ABC News first.
Warren is also pressing the Pentagon to explain how these cuts are affecting military readiness.
“Donald Trump is putting troops’ lives on the line in the Middle East while ripping away health care from their families at home,” Warren said in a statement to ABC News. “Republicans swore the Medicaid cuts in their Big Beautiful Bill were about cutting waste, fraud, and abuse — is that what they think of our military families’ health care?”
In a statement sent to ABC News, the Pentagon didn’t address Warren’s comments.
“As with all congressional correspondences, the Department will respond directly to the authors as appropriate,” a spokesperson said.
A Pentagon official also said it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on the methodology of studies not conducted by the department.
The White House didn’t respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
