Measles, whooping cough surge in Michigan amid falling vaccination rates

Measles spreads very easily, but the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is also extremely effective, providing 97% protection after two doses and 93% after a single dose, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms also include tiny white spots on the inner cheeks, gums and roof of the mouth. Anyone with symptoms is asked to call ahead for care so medical staff can set up isolation procedures.

The state is also seeing an increase in pertussis, or whooping cough, among young children. 

In 2024, Michigan reported 2,081 cases of pertussis. So far in 2025, the state has already reported 676 pertussis cases, including 112 in infants under age two, the age group most at risk for severe complications. 

As of December, only 72.5% of Michigan children between 19 and 35 months had received four or more doses of DTaP, which is a combination vaccine that protects infants and young children against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. 

Related:

Generally, vaccine rates have gone down in recent years among young children in Michigan. 

Only 68.4% of adolescents in Michigan have received all the vaccines recommended to protect them from 14 serious diseases by the time they’re 2 years old, according to MDHHS. 

“Vaccinating your child is one of the safest and most effective things you can do to protect them,”  Veronica McNally, president of the Franny Strong Foundation and Founder of the I Vaccinate campaign, said at the Thursday briefing. 

McNally’s daughter Francesca Marie died at 12 weeks old from whooping cough. She died within nine days of showing symptoms, which was a mild cough. 

“I know the significance of having a child with a vaccine-preventable disease and that vaccine-preventable disease causing death and I would do anything to be able to spare parents from what our family had to go through,” she said. 

Low vaccination rates, high measles risk 

The US had up to 800 cases of measles nationwide as of Friday. Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness.

In addition to Michigan, other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.