Measles Outbreak Hits Florida College

[Zorro]

More than 40 people have fallen ill at Ave Maria University, raising fears that college campuses may soon experience more measles outbreaks.

More than 40 measles cases have been reported at Ave Maria University in southwest Florida, the largest outbreak on a college campus in recent history.

The outbreak at the private Catholic college has raised concerns among university leaders and public health experts that measles, which has largely been considered a childhood illness, may present a growing threat to college students who aren’t vaccinated.

Measles has already disrupted several campuses across the country this year.

In South Carolina, more than 80 students at Clemson University and at Anderson University were quarantined in January after each institution reported a case on campus. Officials at the University of Wisconsin-Madison notified roughly 4,000 people this month that they had been exposed to the virus. Also this month, officials at the University of Florida informed students that two classes at its Gainesville campus had been exposed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/well/measles-florida-ave-maria-university.html?unlocked_article_code=1.MVA.iCd4.VFq4Xk7VoA7l&smid=url-share

[markodochartaigh]

1. The number hit 57 and then the "university",

whose job is supposed to be to further education, stopped releasing numbers. The state updates it's numbers, in this era of instant information, with a two week lag.

And, yes, I did get my measles vaccination last month.

https://www.winknews.com/news/collier/measles-outbreak-breakdown-in-southwest-florida-ave-maria-sees-57-cases/article_079d8e1f-36d6-48f7-821b-997e3876ff56.html

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/2026/02/13/ave-maria-university-says-it-rely-on-state-department-of-health-measles-count-but-there-is-a-lag/88659396007/
https://www.wusf.org/health-news-florida/2026-02-13/updated-measles-numbers-florida-health-department-shy-ave-maria-report
"The health department updates its dashboard each Thursday, publishing data through the prior week to allow time for verification. The two-week lag means official totals may trail the number of cases identified by universities or clinics in real time."

Edit: I miss the days when the Church was pro-science.

[HAB911]

2. Domino's Pizza College

[Ilsa]

3. Timing is about right for the now-adult children of

anti-vaxxers to start getting sick from communicable childhood diseases. Some of those anti-vaxxers may discover they'll never be grandparents if there is an outbreak of mumps, which is covered in the MMR vaccine. Infertility, more likely in post-pubescent males, can be a permanent side effect of orchitis (inflammation of the testicles) which may accompany mumps. Decreased sperm count is also a possibility.

[NickB79]

4. A private Catholic university

I knew it'd be a private Christian university.

[BlueSpot]

8. No shit

Me too.

It's like it was founded to be featured in this story. SMH

[Pharlo]

5. In 1981, I went to a private Catholic College.

Part of the admissions process was a vaccination history. If you did not have a medical reason for not being vaccinated, you had to get the vaccination or find a different school to attend. Looks to me like Ave Maria University does not care about its students physical well-being.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. This college is evidently full of anti-vaxxer idiots

[msongs]

7. god's will be praised. hope they are grateful for the gift nt

[Initech]

9. Put a guy with a worm in his brain who snorts cocaine off toilet seats in charge of public health.

What could possibly go wrong?