Tribes prepare for measles outbreaks as confirmed cases in US surpass 1,000

The CDC says as of May 29, 14 outbreaks have been reported this year, with 90% of the 1,088 confirmed cases tied to these outbreaks. Confirmed cases were reported by 33 states, including Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Kansas, Alaska and Washington — which all have sizable Native American populations.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that largely spreads through the air. One in five patients ends up being hospitalized; of those hospitalized so far in 2025, 22% have been children under 5 years of age. Currently 96% of cases involve patients who are either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is listed as “unknown.”

“Fortunately we have not seen a case yet,” said Jay Mooney, director of Prairie Band Potawatomi Health Center, based in northeast Kansas. The state currently has 71 confirmed reports of measles, but Mooney told Buffalo’s Fire that the majority of them are in the southwest corner of the state and around Wichita.

Mooney says besides continuing to monitor the situation and having regular contact with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, providers among the Prairie Band Potawatomi actively push for childhood vaccination.

“For the most part, our patient area saw high vaccination rates and compliance during COVID, and I believe that has carried over to other vaccines,” said Mooney. “During certain vaccination seasons we open specific ‘vaccination clinics’ and do outreach to other areas like our casino, the Boys & Girls Club, the Elder Center, and other tribal departments.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many tribes have developed readiness protocols and measures to limit the spread of airborne diseases. Mooney says his tribe “led the way” during COVID by acting fast, closing their pharmacy to walk-in customers and shifting to touchless processes.

“While much of the nation was debating who should be tested,” he said, “we obtained a rapid analyzer and made the decision early in the pandemic to open a drive-thru testing facility and test any patient who wanted a test.”

Mooney said the state of Kansas recognized the Prairie Band of Potawatomi for making the COVID vaccine accessible to everyone in the area, not just for reservation residents or eligible Native patients.

Centuries of maladies and suffering

A quarter of a century ago, measles was eliminated in the United States. After a vaccine was developed in 1963, its consistent use and widespread availability helped eradicate a common scourge that had sickened millions of children before they were 15 and hospitalized an estimated 48,000 people a year. It also killed 400-500 on an annual basis.

Diseases of all sorts have ravaged Native Americans over the past 500 years: smallpox, cholera, influenza and others have all claimed lives and livelihoods. Historical accounts speak of entire villages wiped out by foreign maladies, with medicine men and other healers left helpless. For decades, tribal health advocates have pointed to funding inequities for Indian Health Service clinics. Today, they are also sounding the alarm over new cuts to healthcare at the federal level.

History has shown tribal leaders the cost of uncontrolled contagion and lack of resources, which in turn has informed their response to future threats.

“Grand Ronde Health and Wellness Center has an ongoing social media campaign explaining how to identify [measles], common symptoms, how it’s spread and how to protect our community,” said Kelly Rowe, executive director of health services for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

She said the tribe’s clinic has had a “robust vaccination program” for decades and remains prepared with vaccines and boosters. A community and public health team is ready to respond to outbreaks and to partner — if needed — with state, federal and county governments.

In a joint email, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians’ medical director, Lisa Taylor, and the executive health director, Miranda Williams, told Buffalo’s Fire that they have already sent mass emails and social media posts to their staff and tribal membership on how to prevent and control measles.

“A special presentation on the measles update was given to the Siletz Tribal Council,” they wrote, adding that the Siletz Community Health Clinic staff has checked the immunization status of the tribe’s children for measles, mumps and rubella.

They said that they’ll re-check those statuses again in three months, and that they’ve canvassed their medical staff on their own immunizations.

“There was a lot to learn from COVID-19, including making sure staff are aware of the rise in measles and working with Lincoln County for reporting purposes,” concludes their email. “System improvements are in process to build dashboard surveillance and monitoring using current electronic health records.”

Beyond getting vaccinated, protocols urge health care workers to don face masks and gloves when working with patients with suspected or confirmed measles, and to keep those patients apart from others in the clinic or ER. Measles is highly contagious and can stay in the air for up to two hours, meaning adequate ventilation is also important.

Several tribes in the Dakotas were invited to comment for this article but none responded. According to the CDC’s latest data, the number of measles cases in North Dakota jumped from 1 to 28 between May 2 and May 29.

In a North Dakota Health and Human Services release, HHS Immunization Director Molly Howell said, “This is the highest number of measles cases reported in North Dakota since 1978.” That year saw 211 cases.

And with the CDC confirming more than a thousand measles cases in the U.S. so far this year, 2025 has seen the strongest spike in cases since 2019. That year there were 1,274 cases — the largest number since 1992. Officials attributed the sharp rise six years ago largely to underimmunized people in a large, tight-knit religious community in New York City and New York state. From 2020 to 2024, case numbers ranged between 13 and 285 per year.

With summer activities underway, including powwows, camps and other large gatherings of people, tribal health officials are urging their community members to be vaccinated, keep on top of cases in their area, and check themselves and their loved ones regularly for measles symptoms.

And while many tribes see the recent COVID-19 pandemic as reshaping the global health landscape, it’s also taught many that preparedness is not so much a luxury as a necessity.

“Thankfully, we have not had any reported cases of measles amongst Coquille Tribal Citizens, and there are no reported cases in Oregon thus far in 2025,” said Jessica Hamner, community services manager for the Ko-Kwel Wellness Center. “But we do recognize that while we face the dual challenge of preventing new pandemics and controlling preventable diseases, like measles, we must remain vigilant, united and proactive.”