The Florida Department of Health updated its measles case counts Thursday as scheduled. But even after the dashboard refresh, the totals do not align with reports from two college outbreaks.
The department’s Reportable Diseases Frequency Report now reports 66 confirmed cases statewide through Feb. 7 — including 46 in Collier County.
However, Ave Maria University, a private Catholic school in Collier, reported Wednesday through its clinic that there had been 50 treated students, with seven more in quarantine while still in the four-day contagious period.
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A day later, Ave Maria posted it will no longer post its own running campus totals.
“Going forward, we will reference the DOH website for weekly updates on official case numbers for Collier County,” the school wrote.
“Our ongoing priority remains the health, safety, and well-being of every member of our campus community. We continue to provide comprehensive support through ongoing monitoring, free vaccination clinics offered by the DOH, established quarantine protocols, transparent communication with our students and families, and the spiritual care of our Campus Ministry priests.”
The state update lists two confirmed cases in Alachua County, a week after the University of Florida in Gainesville said it was investigating exposures in two classrooms.
The health department updates its dashboard each Thursday, publishing data through the prior week to allow time for verification. The two-week lag means official totals may trail the number of cases identified by universities or clinics in real time.
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Health experts have said the delay could be a problem during an active outbreak of the extremely contagious disease.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 733 confirmed measles cases as of Feb. 5. The CDC ranks Florida’s outbreak the third largest in the country so far this year, behind South Carolina and Texas.
In search of herd immunity
Health experts say declining vaccination rates have contributed to outbreaks across the country. Measles was considered eradicated in the U.S. in 2020 because of high vaccination coverage.
Most college students are required to provide proof of receiving the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination (or an exemption) before enrolling. Ave Maria said about 90% of its students are immunized. UF said most of its students were vaccinated.
But because the measles vaccine is about 97% effective after two doses — and because herd immunity requires very high coverage — outbreaks can still occur when immunity gaps exist within a community.
“Fewer children have been getting vaccinated to an extent that we no longer have herd immunity against measles,” said Dr. Juan Antonio Dumois, a pediatric infectious disease physician with Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, said on WUSF's "Florida Matters Live & Local.".
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“Herd community requirements are higher for diseases that are more contagious, and measles is the most contagious disease that we know of in the way that it's spread through the air.”
Florida’s kindergarten measles vaccination rate stands at about 88.8%, according to the CDC — below the roughly 95% coverage generally needed to maintain herd immunity against measles.
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo has aggressively campaigned to eliminate school vaccine requirements in the state, calling immunizations a parental choice.
Measles in the air
Dumois said measles spreads so efficiently that exposure in a shared indoor space can be enough to transmit the virus.
“Anybody who doesn't have immunity can develop measles if they're exposed,” he said. “It's so contagious that if you're in a building with someone else who has measles and you breathe the same air, you've got a 90% chance of getting it.”
Measles typically begins with fever, cough and congestion, followed by redness in the eyes. Three to four days later, a rash appears, starting on the face and spreading downward across the body.
The vaccine can still offer protection even after exposure, Dumois said.
“If I get exposed to someone with measles today, I have three days to get a dose of the vaccine … and it can stimulate my immune system quickly enough to help protect me,” he said. The incubation period — from infection to symptoms — is usually about 10 days.
With vaccination rates below herd immunity thresholds and measles able to linger in the air for up to two hours, infectious disease specialists say even small gaps in immunity can allow outbreaks to grow quickly — particularly in dense campus settings.
The interview on “Florida Matters Live & Local” was conducted by host Matthew Peddie.
