When Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy answered questions during the first cabinet meeting of the new Trump administration, he incorrectly described the number of people who died in a West Texas measles outbreak and the reason people were hospitalized.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 10.3 million people were infected with measles and 107,500 died. Most were unvaccinated people or children younger than five. Cases were most common in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia where incomes are low and health services insufficient.

Measles is rarely seen in the United States, but Americans are growing more concerned about the preventable virus as cases continue to rise in rural West Texas.

Measles was considered to be eliminted in the U.S. in 2000, thanks to vaccine developments. But vaccination rates have dropped since the covid pandemic began.

More measles cases have been confirmed in New Jersey and Kentucky as health officials work to treat patients in an ongoing outbreak in Texas.

Here’s what to know about the current measles outbreak, how common the measles is in the U.S., how it spreads and what the symptoms and treatment are.

Vaccines are the most effective tools to combat measles. Breakthrough cases — infections among the vaccinated — are extremely rare. But as outbreaks spread, it’s important to review your own vaccination status and make sure you are properly protected.

The cases identified in New Jersey are separate from a serious measles outbreak that has swept through West Texas in the last month, with doctors diagnosing 124 cases in nine counties.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that, as of Feb. 20, measles cases have been reported in Alaska, California, Georgia, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island. For school year 2023-24 an estimated 93.2% of children were vaccinated in New Jersey, says the CDC.

New measles cases have been confirmed in New Jersey and Kentucky with the one common factor being a lack of measles vaccinations.

In New Jersey, a measles patient who recently traveled abroad had close contact with two other people who were later diagnosed with the disease.