PHOENIX — The number of reported measles cases so far this year in the United States has already surpassed the number of cases reported in all of 2018, according to data from the CDC.
According to the data, there have been 387 reported measles cases so far in 2019 compared to 372 reported in all of 2018.
That number of reported cases in 2019 is also the second-most cases for the U.S. since the disease was eliminated in 2000, according to the CDC. There were more than 660 cases reported in 2014.
Arizona is among the 15 states which have reported at least one case of the disease this year. The first measles case confirmed in Arizona this year was a 1-year-old from Pima County.
Health officials in Arizona say the state's low vaccination rates put it at risk of having a full on measles outbreak.
The CDC says and travelers continue to bring the disease back to the U.S. from other countries.
The 1-year-old in Arizona had been exposed to the disease after going to Asia, health officials said.
CDC also says the majority of the people diagnosed with measles were unvaccinated. "Pockets of unvaccinated people" within U.S. communities have helped the spread of the disease, the CDC says.
Symptoms of the measles start with a fever over 100 degrees along with red, watery eyes, a cough and a runny nose. A red, raised and blotchy rash appears after several days, starting on the head before moving down the body.