Healthcare workers conducted drive-through measles tests outside a hospital in Seminole, Texas, on Friday.Julio Cortez/Associated Press
Nearly 100 individuals have been killed by measles outbreaks in portions of Texas and New Mexico, and state health officials cautioned that the number of cases was likely to increase.
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced on Friday that an outbreak has been circulating in the South Plains region of Texas since late January. The region's measles vaccination rates fall well short of government goals.
At least 77 of the 90 measles cases the agency confirmed on Friday were in minors. According to the department, sixteen persons have been admitted to hospitals.
The cases coincide with public health professionals' mounting concerns about the country's plummeting immunization rates and the appointment of a well-known vaccine skeptic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as health secretary.
Mr. Kennedy has pledged to examine and scrutinize childhood vaccines. And has noted conflicting studies on the vaccine's negative effects.
In Texas, Gaines County, a farming region near the New Mexico border, has seen the most of the instances. Of the 90 cases, just five involved measles-vaccinated patients. According to the government, the remaining individuals were either unvaccinated or had an unclear vaccination status.
As of Thursday, The New Mexico Department of Health said that it had detected nine measles cases in Lea County, which is adjacent to the Texas outbreak area. According to the department, four of the affected individuals were youngsters.
To look into the outbreak, the Texas Department of State Health Services stated that it was collaborating with regional health agencies. To try to stop the outbreaks, local health officials have increased the number of testing facilities and immunization clinics.
Both Lea County, New Mexico, and Seminole, in Gaines County, were offering free walk-in immunizations.
Although exemptions may be made for "reasons of conscience," children in Texas are required to obtain the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to attend public schools. However, according to state data, more than 13 percent of K–12 students in Gaines County were exempt from receiving the vaccine last year, making it one of the counties with the highest exemption rates in the state.
Approximately 10 points behind the state average for Texas public schools, the county's immunization rate for kindergarteners who received the M.M.R. vaccine last year was 82%. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the majority of persons in a community will be immunely protected when over 95% of the population has received vaccinations.
Everywhere in the world, measles outbreaks have been occurring. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases that humans are aware of. This also applies to the US, where the illness was formerly deemed eradicated.
According to the C.D.C., there were 285 cases in the United States in 2024, spread among more than 30 states.
The illness has the potential to kill seriously ill people. According to the C.D.C., almost one in five unvaccinated individuals who contract measles wind up in the hospital.
Since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, national measles vaccination rates have been falling; last year, they were less than 93 percent.
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