A Miami Palmetto Senior High School student has been diagnosed with measles, Miami-Dade County Public Schools confirmed on Tuesday.
Parents of students at the school in Pinecrest told WLRN that they received an email blast and automated voicemail on Tuesday from the school’s principal, Victoria Dobbs, who also confirmed the measles case.
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"While the risk of transmission may be low for vaccinated individuals, we are taking all necessary precautions while working closely with local health authorities to ensure the health and safety of our school community," Dobbs says in the voicemail message.
A school district spokesperson told WLRN that Superintendent Jose L. Dotres is planning to hold a press conference on Wednesday to discuss the measles case.
There have been no other reported measles cases in Florida, according to federal health officials.
School officials advised parents about a free MMR immunization drive at Palmetto High this Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for any unvaccinated student whose parents provide consent.
Measles is rarely seen in the United States, but Americans have grown more concerned about the preventable virus after cases recently emerged in rural West Texas.
An unvaccinated child died last week in that outbreak, which involves more than 150 cases. It was the first confirmed measles case in the U.S. since 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Measles is a respiratory infection with flu-like symptoms, which include a fever, runny nose and cough. But conjunctivitis (red eyes), tiny white ulcers inside the mouth and a distinctive rash that starts on the face are characteristic to measles.
It spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It most commonly affects kids. The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The CDC on Tuesday posted a message on X saying that “CDC is on the ground in TX,” indicating that the state of Texas had requested federal assistance in investigating and controlling the outbreak.
Besides Texas, which has had the most measles cases of any U.S. state this year, there are also nine cases in New Mexico. The state health department there has said there is no direct connection to the outbreak in Texas.
Measles cases also have been reported in Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
The CDC defines an outbreak as three or more related cases. Three measles clusters have qualified as outbreaks in 2025, the agency said. In the U.S., cases and outbreaks are generally traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in communities with low vaccination rates.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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