Story highlights The CDC received more than 100 reports of measles between January 1 and July 14

Most of the people who got measles had not been vaccinated

(CNN) More than 100 cases of measles have been diagnosed this year in 21 states and the District of Columbia, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday.

Measles is a contagious virus that spreads through the air via coughing and sneezing. Symptoms such as high fever, rash all over the body, stuffy nose and reddened eyes typically disappear without treatment within two or three weeks. Yet one or two out of every 1,000 children who get measles will die from complications , according to the CDC.

From January 1 through July 14, the CDC recorded 107 measles patients living in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and the District of Columbia.

The CDC's 2018 midyear measles report appears high in comparison with recent years. In all of 2017, for example, 118 people from 15 states and DC had measles. In 2016, 86 people from 19 states had measles.

However, 2014 saw a record number of measles cases in the United States; 667 cases in 27 states were reported to the CDC. Of those, 338 were connected to a single large outbreak . The total number of cases that year is the highest number since measles elimination was declared in the US in 2000. Measles elimination is defined as the absence of continuous transmission for 12 months or more in a specific geographic area.