(The Hill) – The measles outbreak in the U.S. has now exceeded 700 reported incidents, increasing the pressure on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to control the spread of this dangerous virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports a total of 712 cases, with recent instances emerging in Kansas, Ohio, and Indiana. The outbreak has now affected 25 states based on current information.

The uptick comes after Kennedy suggested earlier this week at a White House Cabinet meeting that cases were plateauing.

Texas continues to lead with the highest number of cases, recording 514 confirmed incidents. According to the most recent figures from the Texas Department of State Health Services, the state reported 36 new cases earlier this week. Gaines County alone accounts for 355 of these cases.

Since the outbreak of measles began to spread earlier this year in Texas, at least 56 people have been hospitalized with complications from the virus. Two school-aged kids in the state have died from the infection. Both were unvaccinated and had no known underlying conditions. 

Kennedy visited Gaines County to comfort the family of an 8-year-old girl who died from the disease. The HHS secretary promoted the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine as the as the “most effective” way to prevent the spread of measles. 

“My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief,” Kennedy, who has faced criticism for the department’s response to the outbreak and his previous stance on childhood vaccines, said earlier this month.

The number of cases in other states has also risen.

The tally has increased to 58 in New Mexico, with six being reported by people who had at least one dozen of the vaccine, the New Mexico Department of Health reported. One death in the state is being investigated after the deceased resident tested positive for measles. They were also unvaccinated, per the CDC.

In Kansas, the number of cases went up to 32, with half of those affected being between 5 and 17 years of age, the data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment shows.

There have been six reported cases of measles in Indiana so far, with all of them being discovered in Allen County, according to the Indiana Department of Health. 

Despite facing blowback from his initial reaction to the outbreak, Kennedy has gotten some praise for saying the MMR vaccine is the “most effective way to prevent the spread” of the viral infection. 

“We are seeing at least some sign this administration understands they need to respond more appropriately,” Jason Schwartz, a vaccine researcher at the Yale School of Public Health, told The Hill. 

“It’s encouraging that there was an acknowledgment of basic public health knowledge, but it reminds us of just how little we’ve heard from this administration about the benefits of vaccination,” Schwartz added. “It’s noteworthy that the acknowledgment was the stuff of headlines.”

The outbreak represents the first time Kennedy has had to reconcile his past as a leading critic of vaccines since taking on the leadership role and as funding cuts under the Trump administration have hit public health offices that work to track and prevent the disease.