What Happened to the Measles Outbreak at Ave Maria University?

Remember the measles outbreak at Ave Maria University in Florida?

Would you be surprised to know that it hasn’t ended yet?

What Happened to the Measles Outbreak at Ave Maria University?

What’s even more surprising though, after what initially seemed like a strong response from Ave Maria University, with regular reports of case counts and students in quarantine and isolation, we are basically getting no information about the outbreak.

And again, that’s not because the outbreak has ended.

There are 143 measles cases in Florida, with many of them concentrated in Duvall county, the home of Ave Maria University.

In fact, we had even, gotten some news that the outbreak had spread from the university into the community last month.

“The measles outbreak that began at Ave Maria University has gone beyond the immediate confines of the Catholic school in eastern Collier County.

One case has been confirmed at nearby Donahue Academy, a private K-12 Catholic school adjacent to AMU and once run by the university. The school was acquired by the Diocese of Venice in 2017.”

Measles has spread beyond Ave Maria University in Collier. What to know

But that was the last we heard, even as more cases were reported on the Florida Health Department dashboard.

Are new cases of measles at the university or is this a second wave of measles in the community?

We don’t know…

Ave Marie University hasn’t provided any real details on their measles outbreak since mid-February…

“I was visiting because one of the largest measles outbreaks the United States has seen on a college campus in decades erupted just a few blocks west at Ave Maria University at the end of January, but very little information was being shared with the public.

I tried to get in touch with the Florida Department of Health and Ave Maria University over phone and email for a month, with no response, before making a trip to the center of the outbreak. There have now been more than 100 cases reported in the county: 88 confirmed and 16 probable.

My visit had shown me that a lot was happening outside of the public view, but that night at the grocery store, I was feeling defeated. I still couldn’t pin down the trajectory of the outbreak or gauge the level of risk to the community.”

There’s little information about a large measles outbreak in Florida, so we went to see it

And a lack of information is likely making things worse.

On September 3, 2025, in announcing plans to end all state vaccine mandates, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo made several false or misleading claims about the safety of vaccines and described them as “poison.” He also compared vaccine mandates to “slavery” and claimed that there is no ethical reason for herd immunity "to be used as a force to take away your ability to choose what you put in your body and what you as a parent put in your child's body."

Florida Surgeon General Misrepresents Safety of Vaccines

All this as Florida Governor DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo are likely still going to push to make it even easier for parents in Florida to get non-medical vaccine exemptions to attend daycare and school.

More on Measles in Florida

• Measles Is Spreading in More and More Places

• The History of Vaccine Exemptions

• A measles outbreak in Florida is simmering, but we know almost nothing about it. We went to investigate

• Ave Maria University stops releasing measles data. Why it matters

• Measles has spread beyond Ave Maria University in Collier. What to know

• There’s little information about a large measles outbreak in Florida, so we went to see it

• Understanding measles outbreak at Ave Maria University

• DeSantis’ resolve to pass his vaccine policies strengthens as measles cases continue to rise

• Rep. Frankel Slams Gov. DeSantis Decision to Eliminate Vaccine Mandates

• Florida Surgeon General Misrepresents Safety of Vaccines