Forty-nine students at Ave Maria University in Collier County have been diagnosed with measles since the beginning of the year. This is according to an update on the school’s website, although no one from the school has responded to direct requests from information from WGCU. The Florida Department of Health reports four cases of measles in Collier County in the month of January, which is their most recent reported data. Neither the state nor the Collier County Department of Health has responded to direct requests for information from WGCU.

Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus and easily avoided with a vaccine. The disease was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, thanks to the success of vaccination. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association predicted 51.2 million measles cases over the next 25 years because of the decline in childhood vaccination.

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