MIAMI, Fla. — A case of the measles has been confirmed in a student at Palmetto Senior High School, Miami-Dade school officials confirmed Wednesday.

Officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Department of Health are providing support to health officials in the area.

After the case was reported, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo sent a letter to parents and guardians with information on measles. 

Dr. Todd Husty, the medical director of emergency medical services in Maitland, said measles is an airborne, extremely infectious virus. 

The letter that Ladapo sent to Miami-Dade sent to parents and guardians said symptoms may appear 7 to 14 days after contact with the virus and can include high fever, red watery eyes, cough and a runny nose. 

The most common symptom of measles is a rash that often develops on the face and neck but can spread to the entire body. 

Those at increased risk of serious illness include infants under 12 months, pregnant women and people with a compromised immune system. 

Husty said there is no specific treatment for the measles because it is caused by a virus, but medications can help manage symptoms.

The CDC recommends that people get the MMR vaccine to protect against measles, mumps, and rubella. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old.

“In today's world, most people had vaccinations for the measles when they were a kid," Husty said. "So the majority of the population is protected to some extent. But now there's a fair number of people that are concerned about vaccines in general. And so they're not getting their kids vaccinated, which leaves them open for bad infection.”

Vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks.

The Palmetto Senior High case is the first reported in Florida since a small outbreak in 2024, which also was in South Florida.

Meanwhile, officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are responding to a larger measles outbreak in Texas.

The CDC said teams will be providing support to local health officials in Brownfield, near Lubbock, for one to three weeks to deal with 159 cases and 22 hospitalizations.

Accoding to data from the CDC, at least 164 measles cases were reported nationwide as of last week.

Measles is not often seen in the United States, but last week, an unvaccinated child died in the outbreak.

The CDC said the last confirmed measles death in the U.S. was in 2015.

“In the years leading up to when the vaccine was licensed in 1963, we had about 500 kids a year in the U.S. who would die from measles,” said Dr. Adam Ratner, a pediatric infectious disease doctor with NYU Langone Health. “And those were real children, and most of them were previously well kids.

“Some of them obviously had had other medical problems on top of that. But most of them were previously well kids, who went on to die from this disease that is now preventable.” 

The CDC on Tuesday posted a message on X saying that “CDC is on the ground in TX,” indicating that the state had requested federal assistance in investigating and controlling the outbreak.

People who have had measles once can’t get it again, health officials say. 

Doctors recommend that people who suspect they have the measles call their health care providers and tell them about their concerns.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.