The U.S. is having its worst year for measles spread in more than three decades, with a total of 1,288 cases nationally and another six months to go in 2025. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that the national case count surpassed 2019, when there were 1,274 cases for the year and the country almost lost its status of having eliminated the vaccine-preventable illness. That could happen this year if the virus has nonstop spread for 12 months. This year’s outbreaks, some of them interconnected, started five months ago in undervaccinated communities in West Texas. Three people have died — two children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico — and dozens of people have been hospitalized. Public health experts maintain the true case count may be higher than state health departments have confirmed. North America has three other major measles outbreaks, with 2,966 cases in Chihuahua state, Mexico, 2,223 cases in Ontario, Canada and 1,230 in Alberta, Canada. Twelve other states have current confirmed outbreaks of three or more people — Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Utah — and four other states saw their outbreaks end. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is 97% effective at preventing measles after two doses. The World Health Organization said in 2000 that measles had been eliminated from the U.S. The CDC identified 22 outbreaks in 2019, the largest being two separate clusters in New York — 412 in New York state and 702 in New York City. These were linked because as measles was spreading through close-knit Orthodox Jewish communities, the CDC said. It’s a similar situation in North America this year, where the Canada, Mexico and Texas outbreaks stem from large Mennonite communities in the regions. Mennonite churches do not formally discourage vaccination, though more conservative Mennonite communities historically have low vaccination rates and a distrust of government. A recent study found childhood vaccination rates against measles fell after the COVID-19 pandemic in nearly 80% of the more than 2,000 U.S. counties with available data, including in states that are battling outbreaks this year. Only 92.7% of kindergarteners in the U.S. had the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in the 2023-2024 school year, below the 95% needed to prevent outbreaks. In Gaines County, Texas, the epicenter of the Texas outbreak, only 82% of kindergarteners were up-to-date with MMR vaccines. State and federal leaders have for years kept funding stagnant for local public health departments’ vaccination programs that are tasked with reversing the trend. “What we’re seeing with measles is a little bit of a ‘canary in a coal mine,’” said Lauren Gardner, leader of Johns Hopkins University’s independent measles and COVID tracking databases. “It’s indicative of a problem that we know exists with vaccination attitudes in this county and just, I think, likely to get worse.” (AP)

Kentucky has its first measles outbreak of 2025, as the U.S. case count sits just short of a 30-year high. There have been 1,267 confirmed measles cases this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. Texas confirmed three more measles cases this week tied to a major outbreak that raged through the late winter and spring. There are three other large outbreaks in North America. The longest, in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 2,212 cases from mid-October through June 24. The province logged its first death June 5 in a baby who got congenital measles but also had other preexisting conditions. Another outbreak in Alberta, Canada, has sickened 1,169 as of Wednesday. And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 2,810 measles cases and eight deaths as of Wednesday, according to data from the state health ministry. Other U.S. states with active outbreaks — which the CDC defines as three or more related cases — include Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Utah. In the U.S., two elementary school-aged children in the epicenter in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico have died of measles this year. All were unvaccinated. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. How many measles cases are there in Texas? Texas added three outbreak-related cases Tuesday, for a total of 753 across 36 counties, most of them in West Texas, state data shows. Throughout the outbreak, 99 people have been hospitalized. State health officials estimated less than 1% of cases — fewer than 10 — were actively infectious as of Tuesday. Fifty-five percent of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has had 414 cases since late January — just under 2% of its residents. Statewide, officials said Tuesday only two counties — Gaines and Lamar — had ongoing measles transmission. The state also said Tuesday there are 37 cases across 19 counties that don’t have a clear link to the outbreak now, but may end up added to it after further investigation. The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Local health officials said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of “what the child’s doctor described as measles pulmonary failure.” A unvaccinated child with no underlying conditions died of measles in Texas in late February; Kennedy said the child was 6. How many measles cases are there in New Mexico? New Mexico had 94 measles cases Friday. Five cases were confirmed last week in a jail in Luna County, which prompted health officials to urge locals to get vaccinated and halted in-person visits. The jail’s outbreak grew to 13 by Tuesday. All of the cases are in unvaccinated adults. Seven people have been hospitalized since the state’s outbreak started. Most of the state’s cases are in Lea County. Sandoval County near Albuquerque has six cases, Eddy County has three, Doña Ana County has two. Chaves, Curry and San Juan counties have one each. An unvaccinated adult died of measles-related illness March 6. The person did not seek medical care. How many cases are there in Oklahoma? Oklahoma held steady Tuesday for a total of 17 confirmed and three probable cases. The state

MeThe U.S. logged 122 more cases of measles last week — but only four of them in Texas — while the outbreaks in Pennsylvania and Michigan officially ended. There were 1,168 confirmed measles cases in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Health officials in Texas, where the nation’s biggest outbreak raged during the late winter and spring, said they’ll now post case counts only once a week — yet another sign the outbreak is slowing. There are three other major outbreaks in North America. The longest, in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 2,009 cases from mid-October through June 3. The province logged its first death Thursday in a baby that got congenital measles but also had other preexisting conditions. Another outbreak in Alberta, Canada, has sickened 761 as of Thursday. And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 1,940 measles cases and four deaths as of Friday, according to data from the state health ministry. Other U.S. states with active outbreaks — which the CDC defines as three or more related cases — include Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma. In the U.S., two elementary school-aged children in the epicenter in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico have died of measles this year. All were unvaccinated. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. How many measles cases are there in Texas? There were a total of 742 cases across 35 counties, most of them in West Texas, state health officials said Friday. Throughout the outbreak, 94 people have been hospitalized. State health officials estimated less than 1% of cases — fewer than 10 — are actively infectious. Fifty-five percent of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has had 411 cases since late January — just under 2% of the county’s residents. The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Local health officials said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of “what the child’s doctor described as measles pulmonary failure.” A unvaccinated child with no underlying conditions died of measles in Texas in late February; Kennedy said the child was 6. How many measles cases are there in New Mexico? New Mexico added two cases in the last week for a total of 81. Seven people have been hospitalized since the outbreak started. Most of the state’s cases are in Lea County. Sandoval County near Albuquerque has six cases, Eddy County has three, Doña Ana County has two. Chaves, Curry and San Juan counties have one each. An unvaccinated adult died of measles-related illness March 6. The person did not seek medical care. How many cases are there in Oklahoma? Oklahoma added one case last week for a total of 15 confirmed and three probable cases. The state health department is not releasing which counties have cases. How many cases are there in Colorado? Colorado has seen a total of 12 measles cases in 2025, which includes one outbreak of seven related cases. The

Childhood vaccination rates against measles fell in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic in nearly 80% of the more than 2,000 U.S. counties with available data — including in states that are battling outbreaks this year. A Johns Hopkins University study, published in JAMA this week, illustrates where more vulnerable communities are located. The results mirror trends established at state and national levels: Routine childhood vaccination rates are dropping. “When you look at the state level or national level … you really don’t see those drastic drops. Those are there. They’re real and they’re really problematic,” said Lauren Gardner, an expert in infectious disease modeling at Johns Hopkins University who is the paper’s senior author. Gardner also built the university’s COVID-19 database. Most of the measles cases in the U.S. this year — 1,088 nationally as of Friday — are in unvaccinated people. It has been spreading among communities due to international and domestic travel. Three people have died from measles during this year’s outbreaks, and 2025 is inching closer to becoming the worst for measles in more than three decades. Measles was eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, and the vaccine is safe and highly effective. Public schools nationwide require two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine before kindergarten, but the number of children with non-medical exemptions from those requirements hit an all-time high in the 2023-2024 school year. Health experts say community-level vaccination needs to be at 95% or higher to prevent outbreaks. The Johns Hopkins study looked at 2,066 counties across 33 states, comparing kindergarten vaccination rates averaged over school years from 2017-2020 to averages from 2022-2024. Where kindergarten data wasn’t available, the researchers used a comparable rate. Here’s what it looks like in counties where there have been outbreaks this year, including in Texas counties that are the epicenter of measles. Texas Texas has logged 742 measles cases since late January, most in West Texas. Gaines County has 411 cases, the most in the state. Almost 2% of its population got measles. While the county saw a two percentage-point increase in vaccination rates after the pandemic, its 82.4% rate remains below herd immunity. Terry County (60 cases) and Yoakum County (20 cases) dropped below the 95% threshold for herd immunity after the pandemic, to 93.7% and 91.8% respectively. Lubbock County — which has seen 53 cases and is the closest metro area to Gaines County — was just below 95% before the pandemic, but dropped three percentage points after to 91.8%. El Paso County on the border of Mexico has had the third-most measles cases in Texas this year with 57. Its vaccination rate is higher than 95% but saw a 2.1 percentage-point decline to 96.5%. Kansas Counties with outbreaks in Kansas include Gray with 25 cases, Haskell with 11 and and Stevens with seven. Vaccination rates in Gray County dropped 23 percentage points after the pandemic, from 94% to 71%. Haskell County dropped 18 percentage points to 65%. And Stevens County dropped 0.5 percentage points to 90.5%. Colorado Colorado’s outbreak, which is linked to an international flight that landed at the Denver airport in mid-May, involves six cases: five in state residents and one out-of-state traveler. Two people who got measles live in Arapahoe County in the Denver metro, where the vaccination rate dropped 3.5 percentage points to 88.4%. Three others live in El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs, where the vaccination rate dropped 3.8 percentage

Texas confirmed eight more measles cases over the span of four days, continuing a short streak of shrinking increases in a state that has been dealing with a large outbreak for nearly four months. The U.S. surpassed 1,000 measles cases Friday, and Texas still accounts for the vast majority of cases in an outbreak that also spread measles to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas.Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness. Other states with active outbreaks — which the CDC defines as three or more related cases — include Indiana, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. North America has two other ongoing outbreaks, all of which are the same measles strain. One outbreak in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 1,440 cases from mid-October through May 6, up 197 cases in a week. And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 1,094 measles cases and one death as of Tuesday, according to data from the state health ministry. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. As the virus takes hold in U.S. communities with low vaccination rates, health experts fear that spread could stretch on for a year. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S. How many measles cases are there in Texas? There are a total of 717 cases across 32 counties, most of them in West Texas, state health officials said Tuesday. The state confirmed only eight more cases since its update Friday. The state also added one hospitalization to its count, for a total of 93 throughout the outbreak. State health officials estimated about 1% of cases — fewer than 10 — are actively infectious. Fifty-seven percent of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has had 405 cases since late January — just over 1.7% of the county’s residents. The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Local health officials said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of “what the child’s doctor described as measles pulmonary failure.” A unvaccinated child with no underlying conditions died of measles in Texas in late February; Kennedy said the child was 6. How many measles cases are there in New Mexico? New Mexico remained steady with 71 total cases Tuesday. Seven people have been hospitalized since the outbreak started. Most of the state’s cases are in Lea County. Three are in Eddy County, two in Doña Ana County and Chaves and Curry counties have one each. An unvaccinated adult died of measles-related illness March 6. The person did not seek medical care. How many cases are there in Oklahoma? Oklahoma held steady with a total of 14 confirmed and three probable cases as of Tuesday. The state health department is not releasing which counties have cases, but Cleveland, Oklahoma and Sequoyah counties have had public exposures in the past couple of months. How many cases are

Dr. Hector Ocaranza knew El Paso would see measles the moment it began spreading in West Texas and eastern New Mexico. Highways connect his border city with the epicenter of Texas’ massive outbreak, which is up to 663 cases. They’re the same roads used by thousands of families and commercial truckers who cross into Mexico and back each day. “Diseases know no borders,” said Ocaranza, El Paso’s top public health doctor, “so as people are mobile, they’re going to be coming and receiving medical attention in El Paso but they may be living in Juarez.” It took a couple of months, but El Paso now has the highest measles case count in the state outside of West Texas with 38. Neighboring Ciudad Juarez has 14 cases as of Monday. North America’s three biggest measles outbreaks continue to balloon, with more than 2,500 known cases; three people have died in the U.S. and one in Mexico. It started in the fall in Ontario, Canada; then took off in late January in Texas and New Mexico; and has rapidly spread in Chihuahua state, which is up to 786 cases since mid-February. These outbreaks are in areas with a notable population of certain Mennonite Christian communities who trace their migration over generations from Canada to Mexico to Seminole, Texas. Chihuahua health officials trace their first case to an 8-year-old Mennonite child who visited family in Seminole, got sick and spread the virus at school. And Ontario officials say their outbreak started at a large gathering in New Brunswick involving Mennonite communities. Mexican and U.S. officials also say the genetic strains of measles spreading in Canada match the other large outbreaks. “This virus was imported, traveling country to country,” said Leticia Ruíz, director of prevention and disease control in Chihuahua. North and South American countries have struggled to maintain the 95% measles vaccination rate needed to prevent outbreaks, said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization. And a recent World Health Organization report said measles activity in the Americas region is up elevenfold from the same time last year and that the risk level is “high” compared to the rest of the world’s “moderate” level. Measles cases have been confirmed in six of the region’s countries — Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Mexico — and investigating the disease’s spread is labor-intensive and pricey. The response to each measles case in the U.S. costs an estimated $30,000 to $50,000, according to Dr. David Sugerman, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist. Measles at the U.S.-Mexico border The cases in Ciudad Juarez have no direct connection to the Mennonite settlement in Chihuahua, said Rogelio Covarrubias, a health official in the border city. The first measles case in El Paso was in a child at Fort Bliss, Ocaranza said. More than half of El Paso’s cases are in adults, which is unusually high, and three people have been hospitalized. The health department is holding vaccination clinics in malls and parks and says hundreds have gotten a shot. The vaccines are free — no questions asked, no matter which side of the border you live on. Communication about measles between the two health departments is “informal” but “very good,” Ocaranza said. Covarrubias said his team was alerted last week to a case of someone who became sick in El Paso and

With one-fifth of states seeing active measles outbreaks, the U.S. is nearing 900 cases, according to figures posted Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s confirmed measles cases count is 884, triple the amount seen in all of 2024. The vast majority — 646 — are in Texas, where an outbreak in the western part of the state that’s approaching the three-month mark. Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness. Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. North America has two other ongoing outbreaks. One in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 1,020 cases from mid-October through Wednesday. And as of Friday, the Mexican state of Chihuahua state had 605 measles cases, according to data from the state health ministry. The World Health Organization has said cases in Mexico are linked to the Texas outbreak. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. As the virus takes hold in other U.S. communities with low vaccination rates, health experts fear the virus that the spread could stretch on for a year. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S. How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico? Texas state health officials said Friday there were 22 new cases of measles since Tuesday, bringing the total to 646 across 26 counties — most of them in West Texas. Hospitalizations were steady Friday at 64 throughout the outbreak. State health officials estimated about 1% of cases — fewer than 10 — are actively infectious. Sixty-one percent of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has had 393 cases since late January — just over 1.5% of the county’s residents. The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Health officials in Texas said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of “what the child’s doctor described as measles pulmonary failure.” A unvaccinated child with no underlying conditions died of measles in Texas in late February — Kennedy said age 6. New Mexico announced one new case Friday, bringing the state’s total to 66. Seven people have been hospitalized since the outbreak started. Most of the state’s cases are in Lea County. Three are in Eddy County and Chaves and Doña Ana counties have one each. State health officials say the cases are linked to Texas’ outbreak based on genetic testing. New Mexico reported a measles-related death in an adult on March 6. How many cases are there in Indiana? Indiana confirmed two more cases Monday in an outbreak that has sickened eight in Allen County in the northeast part of the state — five are unvaccinated minors and three are adults whose vaccination status is unknown. The cases have no known link to other outbreaks, the Allen County Department of Health said Monday. How many cases are there in Kansas? Kansas was steady this week with 37 cases in eight counties in the southwest part of the state.

A day care facility in a Texas county that’s part of the measles outbreak has multiple cases, including children too young to be fully vaccinated, public health officials say. West Texas is in the middle of a still-growing measles outbreak with 505 cases reported on Tuesday. The state expanded the number of counties in the outbreak area this week to 10. The highly contagious virus began to spread in late January and health officials say it has spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico. Three people who were unvaccinated have died from measles-related illnesses this year, including two elementary school-aged children in Texas. The second child died Thursday at a Lubbock hospital, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended the funeral in Seminole, the epicenter of the outbreak. As of Friday, there were seven cases at a day care where one young child who was infectious gave it to two other children before it spread to other classrooms, Lubbock Public Health director Katherine Wells said. “Measles is so contagious I won’t be surprised if it enters other facilities,” Wells said. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is first recommended between 12 and 15 months old and a second shot between 4 and 6 years old. Maegan Messick, co-owner of Tiny Tots U Learning Academy, where the outbreak is occurring, recently told KLBK-TV in Lubbock that they’re taking precautions like putting kids who are too young to get the vaccines together in isolation. “We have tried to be extremely transparent,” she told the TV station. There are more than 200 children at the day care, Wells said. Most have had least one dose of the vaccine, though she added, “we do have some children that have only received one dose that are now infected.” The public health department is recommending that any child with only one vaccine get their second dose early, and changed its recommendation for kids in Lubbock County to get the first vaccine dose at 6 months old instead of 1. A child who is unvaccinated and attends the day care must stay home for 21 days since their last exposure, Wells said. Case count and hospitalization numbers in Texas have climbed steadily since the outbreak began, and spiked by 81 cases from March 28 to April 4. On Tuesday, the state added another 24 cases to its count and two additional counties, Borden and Randall. One more person was hospitalized since Friday, with 57 total. Gaines County, where the virus has been spreading through a close-knit Mennonite community, has the majority of cases, with 328 on Tuesday. Neighboring Terry County is second with 46, followed by Lubbock County with 36. The Texas Department of State Health Services tracks vaccinations rate for kindergartners, though the data doesn’t include homeschooled children or some kids who attend private school. Gaines County’s rate is 82%, which is far below the 95% level needed to prevent community spread — and health officials have said it’s likely lower in the small religious schools and homeschooling groups where the early cases were identified. In Terry County, the vaccination rate for kindergartners is at 96%, while Lubbock County is at 92%. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met with Texas officials Monday to determine how many people it would send to

A second school-age child who was hospitalized with measles is the third measles-related death in the U.S. since the virus started ripping through West Texas in late January. The child, a patient at UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, was unvaccinated and being treated for measles complications. The U.S. now has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024, with Texas reporting another large jump in cases and hospitalizations on Friday. Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include New Mexico, Kansas, Ohio and Oklahoma. The virus has been spreading in undervaccinated communities. The multi-state outbreak confirms health experts’ fears that the virus will take hold in other U.S. communities with low vaccination rates and that the spread could stretch on for a year. The World Health Organization said last week that cases in Mexico are linked to the Texas outbreak. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S. How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico? Texas’ outbreak began more than two months ago. State health officials said Friday there were 59 new cases of measles since Tuesday, bringing the total to 481 across 19 counties — most of them in West Texas. The state also logged 14 new hospitalizations, for a total of 56 throughout the outbreak. More than 65% of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus stated spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county now has logged 315 cases since late January — just over 1% of the county’s residents. New Mexico announced six new cases Friday, bringing the state’s total to 54. New Mexico health officials say the cases are linked to Texas’ outbreak based on genetic testing. Most are in Lea County, where two people have been hospitalized, and two are in Eddy County. A school-age child died of measles in Texas in late February, and New Mexico reported its first measles-related death in an adult on March 6. Hospital officials declined to say Sunday when the second child in West Texas died. How many cases are there in Kansas? Kansas has 24 cases in six counties in the southwest part of the state as of Wednesday. Kiowa and Stevens counties have six cases each, while Grant, Morton, Haskell and Gray counties have five or fewer. The state’s first reported case, identified in Stevens County on March 13, is linked to the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks based on genetic testing, a state health department spokesperson said. But health officials have not determined how the person was exposed. How many cases are there in Oklahoma? Cases in Oklahoma remained steady Friday: eight confirmed and two probable cases. The first two probable cases were “associated” with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks, the state health department said. A state health department spokesperson said measles exposures were confirmed in Tulsa and Rogers counties, but wouldn’t say which counties had cases. How many cases are there in Ohio? Ohio reported one new measles case Thursday in west-central Allen County. Last week, there were 10 in Ashtabula County in the northeast corner of the state. The

As measles cases in West Texas are still on the rise two months after the outbreak began, local public health officials say they expect the virus to keep spreading for at least several more months and that the official case number is likely an undercount. But there’s a silver lining, officials say: More people have received a measles, mumps and rubella vaccination this year in Texas and New Mexico, which also has an outbreak, compared to last year — even if it’s not as high as they would like. And pharmacies across the U.S., especially in Texas, are seeing more demand for MMR shots. As of Friday, the outbreak in Texas was up to 309 cases and one measles-related death, while New Mexico’s case count was up to 42 and also one measles-related death. Forty-two people have been hospitalized across the two states. Texas’ outbreak, which has largely spread in undervaccinated Mennonite communities, could last a year based on studies of how measles previously spread in Amish communities in the U.S. Those studies showed outbreaks lasted six to seven months, said Katherine Wells, director of the public health department in Lubbock, Texas. Lubbock’s hospitals have treated most of the outbreak’s patients and the public health department is closely assisting with the response. “It being so rural, now multistate, it’s just going to take a lot more boots on the ground, a lot more work, to get things under control,” Wells said during a media briefing this week. “It’s not an isolated population.” The outbreak includes 14 Texas counties, two New Mexico counties and four probable cases in Oklahoma, where health officials said the first two were “associated” with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks. Measles is one of the world’s most contagious diseases. Its slow way of spreading makes it especially hard to contain and outbreaks can have multiple peaks, said Justin Lessler, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. Many people spread the measles virus unknowingly for days before the telltale rash appears. The virus also can hang in the air for up to two hours after a sick person has left a room. “Within this community, it’d be perfectly reasonable to think probably another couple months before things die out,” Lessler said. “But if it gets into another community, you just potentially start that clock over again.” If the outbreak goes on until next January, it would end the United States’ status of having eliminated measles, which is defined as 12 months without local virus transmission, said Dr. William Moss, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University and executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center. “We’re only three months in. I think if we had a strong response where the messaging was clear that measles vaccination is the way to stop this outbreak, I would be surprised if it went for 12 months or more,” said Moss, who has worked on measles for 25 years, mostly in Africa. “But we’re not seeing that type of response, at least from the federal government.” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. instead has sown doubt about the measles vaccine, which has been safely used for more than 60 years and is 97% effective after two doses. In an interview with Fox News last

Measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico are now up to nearly 320 cases, and two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. As of Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its count of confirmed measles cases in the U.S. surpassed 2024. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S. How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico? Texas state health officials said Tuesday there were 20 new cases of measles since last week, bringing the total to 279 across 11 counties — most in West Texas. Two more people were hospitalized, for a total of 36. New Mexico health officials announced three new cases Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 38. Most of the cases are in Lea County, where two people have been hospitalized, and the other cases are in Eddy County. Oklahoma’s state health department reported two probable cases of measles last week, saying they are “associated” with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks. A school-age child died of measles in Texas last month, and New Mexico reported its first measles-related death in an adult last week. Where else is measles showing up in the U.S.? Measles cases have been reported in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an outbreak as three or more related cases — and there have been three clusters that qualified as outbreaks in 2025. In the U.S., cases and outbreaks are generally traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in communities with low vaccination rates. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles. Do you need an MMR booster? The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. People at high risk for infection who got the shots many years ago may want to consider getting a booster if they live in an area with an outbreak, said Scott Weaver with the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. Those may include family members living with someone who has measles or those especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases because of underlying medical conditions. Adults with “presumptive evidence of immunity” generally don’t need measles shots now, the CDC said. Criteria include written documentation of adequate vaccination earlier in life, lab confirmation of past infection or being born before 1957, when most people were likely to be infected naturally. A doctor can order a lab test called an MMR titer to check your levels of measles antibodies, but health experts don’t always recommend this route and insurance coverage can vary. Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says. People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s don’t need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles

There were 127,350 measles cases reported in Europe and Central Asia in 2024, double the number of cases reported the previous year and the highest number since 1997, according to an analysis by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. In a report published on Thursday, U.N. health experts said Romania had the most measles infections, at more than 30,000, followed by Kazakhstan, which reported 28,147 people with measles. UNICEF said that about 40% of measles infections in Europe and Central Asia were in children under 5 and that more than half of all people sickened by measles had to be hospitalized. Measles is among the world’s most infectious diseases and is spread by an airborne virus. Two doses of the measles vaccine is estimated to be 97% effective in preventing the disease, which typically infects the respiratory system and causes symptoms including fever, cough, runny nose and a rash. In serious cases, measles can cause pneumonia, encephalitis, dehydration and blindness. “Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call,” Dr. Han Kluge, WHO’s Europe director, said in a statement. “Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security.” WHO and UNICEF noted that in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, fewer than 70% and 50% of children in those countries respectively have been vaccinated against measles for at least the past five years. Scientists estimate that more than 95% of the population needs to be immunized to prevent outbreaks. After a drop in immunization coverage during the coronavirus pandemic, measles cases surged in 2023 and 2024, with vaccination rates in numerous countries still lower than what they were before COVID-19 hit. The U.N. said the number of measles cases across Europe made up one third of the approximately 359,521 infections last year. Concerns about the safety of the measles vaccine have persisted for decades, after British physician Dr. Andrew Wakefield and colleagues published a paper in 1998 — which has long since been retracted — linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism. No evidence for any causal link has ever been found and Wakefield had his license to practise medicine in the U.K. revoked. British officials said last month there have been more than 200 reported cases in the U.K. and that many more are expected. “It’s never too late to get vaccinated,” said Ben Kaastan-Dabush, an assistant professor in global health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who warned that misinformation can unfortunately travel rapidly. “Even a small decline in vaccine uptake can have devastating consequences.” In the U.S., measles outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico are continuing to spread and are now up to 250 cases, including two deaths in people who weren’t vaccinated. (AP)

Measles is rarely seen in the United States, but Americans are growing more concerned about the preventable virus as cases continue to rise in rural West Texas. This week, an unvaccinated child died in the West Texas outbreak, which involves more than 120 cases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the last confirmed measles death in the United States was in 2015. There are also nine measles cases in eastern New Mexico, but the state health department said there is no direct connection to the outbreak in Texas. Here’s what to know about the measles and how to protect yourself. What is measles? It’s a respiratory disease caused by one of the world’s most contagious viruses. The virus is airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It most commonly affects kids. “On average, one infected person may infect about 15 other people,” said Scott Weaver, a center of excellence director for the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. “There’s only a few viruses that even come close to that.” Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash. The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC. There’s no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable. People who have had measles once can’t get it again, health officials say. Can measles be fatal? It usually doesn’t kill people, but it can. Common complications include ear infections and diarrhea. But about 1 in 5 unvaccinated Americans who get measles are hospitalized, the CDC said. Pregnant women who haven’t gotten the vaccine may give birth prematurely or have a low-birthweight baby. Among children with measles, about 1 in every 20 develops pneumonia, the CDC said, and about one in every 1,000 suffers swelling of the brain called encephalitis — which can lead to convulsions, deafness or intellectual disability. It’s deadly “in a little less than 1% of cases, mainly in children,” said Weaver, who works at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. “Children develop the most severe illness. The cause of death in these kinds of cases is usually pneumonia and complications from pneumonia.” How can you prevent measles? The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. “Before a vaccine was developed in the 1960s, everybody got” measles, Weaver said. “But then when the vaccine came along, that was a complete game-changer and one of the most successful vaccines in the history of medicine.” There is “great data” on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, he said, because it’s been around for decades. “Any of these outbreaks we’re seeing can easily be prevented by increasing the rate of vaccination in the community,” he said. “If we can maintain 95% of people vaccinated, we’re not going to see

A person who was hospitalized with measles has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center spokesperson Melissa Whitfield confirmed the death Wednesday. It wasn’t clear the age of the patient, who died overnight. Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 124 cases across nine counties, the state health department said Tuesday. There are also nine cases in eastern New Mexico. Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most kids will recover from the measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death. The outbreak is largely spreading in the Mennonite community in an area where small towns are separated by vast stretches of oil rig-dotted open land but connected due to people traveling between towns for work, church, grocery shopping and other day-to-day errands. (AP)

The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 124 cases across nine counties, the state health department said Tuesday, and 18 people are hospitalized. The outbreak is largely spreading in the Mennonite community in an area where small towns are separated by vast stretches of oil rig-dotted open land but connected due to people traveling between towns for work, church, grocery shopping and other day-to-day errands. Brownfield Mayor Eric Horton, a Republican, said he believes in the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine because it has been used for so many years and has stopped measles from spreading in the U.S. Brownfield is in Terry County, which has 21 cases. “I’ve never seen it this close, ever,” Horton said. “I know that we’ve had a few outbreaks in years past but as far as right here, making national news, that is shocking.” In neighboring eastern New Mexico, the measles case count stayed steady Tuesday at nine. State public health officials said last week there’s still no evidence New Mexico’s outbreak is connected to the one in Texas. Measles is a highly contagious disease. Here’s what you should know about how to protect yourself against measles, as well as what’s happening in Texas and New Mexico. Where is measles spreading? Tuesday’s count in West Texas went up by 34 cases since Friday. Cases continue to be concentrated in Gaines County, which has 80 infections, and Terry County, north of Gaines, where there are now 21. Dawson County, to the east of Gaines, has seven; Yoakum County has five; Ector County has two; and Lubbock and Lynn counties have a case each. Martin County, also near Gaines, is new with three cases. The state also said there are four cases in Dallam County, which is in the far corner of the state’s Panhandle area and a couple hundred miles north of Gaines County, and potential exposures in mid-February from an infected, contagious person who traveled to San Marcos, San Antonio and New Braunfels. Texas health department data shows the vast majority of cases are among people younger than 18: 39 infections are in kids younger than 4 and 62 are in kids 5-17 years old. Eighteen adults have measles and five cases are “pending” an age determination. State health officials have said this outbreak is Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. Cases have been concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community, health department spokeswoman Lara Anton has said — especially among families who attend small private religious schools or are homeschooled. A Brownfield resident and father of three told The Associated Press that he’s not too concerned about the outbreak. “I only found out because it was a word-of-mouth thing,” said Dylan Cruz, 28, whose children are vaccinated against measles. In New Mexico, all the cases are in Lea County, which borders Gaines County in Texas. The state health department has said people may have been exposed at a grocery store, an elementary school, a church, Nor-Lea Hospital and a Walgreens in Hobbs, New Mexico. What is measles? Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most kids will

The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 58 cases as of Tuesday, and eight people in neighboring eastern New Mexico also have been diagnosed with measles. New Mexico health department spokesman Robert Nott said Tuesday that the agency hadn’t “identified any direct contact” between cases in its state and cases in Texas. Measles is a highly contagious disease. Here’s what you should know about how to protect yourself against measles, as well as what’s happening in Texas and New Mexico. Where is measles spreading? The West Texas cases are concentrated in Gaines County, which has 45 infections. Terry County to the north has nine confirmed cases, while Lubbock and Lynn counties have a case each and Yoakum County has two. The Texas Department of State Health Services said Monday that 13 people are hospitalized with measles. State health officials say this outbreak is Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. Health department spokeswoman Lara Anton said last week that cases have been concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community — especially among families who attend small private religious schools or are homeschooled. The New Mexico cases are in Lea County, which borders Gaines County in Texas. The cases include a family of five that’s in isolation, the state health department said Tuesday, but none of those infected have needed to be hospitalized. Six people who have measles are not vaccinated, officials said. New Mexico officials also said people may have been exposed at a grocery store, an elementary school, a church, Nor-Lea Hospital and a Walgreens in Hobbs. What is measles? Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most kids will recover from the measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death. Is the vaccine safe? Yes, the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and highly effective in preventing measles infection and severe cases of the disease. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. The vaccine series is required for kids before entering kindergarten in public schools nationwide. Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, the U.S. saw some 3 million to 4 million cases per year. Now, it’s usually fewer than 200 in a normal year. There is no link between the vaccine and autism, despite a now-discredited study and health disinformation. Why do vaccination rates matter? In communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called “herd immunity.” But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots. The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60. Five years earlier, measles cases were the worst in almost three decades in 2019. Gaines County has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine, with nearly 14% of K-12 children in the 2023-24 school

Measles outbreaks in the U.S. and abroad are raising health experts’ concern about the preventable, once-common childhood virus. One of the world’s most contagious diseases, measles can lead to potentially serious complications. The best defense, according to experts? Get vaccinated. Here’s what to know about the year — so far — in measles. How many measles cases has the U.S. seen this year? Nationwide, measles cases already are nearly double the total for all of last year. The U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention documented 113 cases as of April 5. There have been seven outbreaks and most of U.S. cases — 73% — are linked to those flare-ups. Still, the count is lower than some recent years: 2014 saw 667 cases and 2019 had 1,274. Why is this a big deal? The 2019 measles epidemic was the worst in almost three decades, and threatened the United States’ status as a country that has eliminated measles by stopping the continual spread of the measles virus. The CDC on Thursday released a report on recent measles case trends, noting that cases in the first three months of this year were 17 times higher than the average number seen in the first three months of the previous three years. While health officials seem to be doing a good job detecting and responding to outbreaks, “the rapid increase in the number of reported measles cases during the first quarter of 2024 represents a renewed threat to elimination,” the report’s authors said. Where is measles coming from? The disease is still common in many parts of the world, and measles reaches the U.S. through unvaccinated travelers. According to Thursday’s report, most of the recent importations involved unvaccinated Americans who got infected in the Middle East and Africa and brought measles back to the U.S. Where were this year’s U.S. measles outbreaks? Health officials confirmed measles cases in 17 states so far this year, including cases in New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago. More than half of this year’s cases come from the Chicago outbreak, where 61 people have contracted the virus as of Thursday, largely among people who lived in a migrant shelter. How does measles spread? Measles is highly contagious. It spreads when people who have it breathe, cough or sneeze and through contaminated surfaces. It also can linger in the air for two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the CDC. Measles used to be common among kids. How bad was it? Before a vaccine became available in 1963, there were some 3 million to 4 million cases per year, which meant nearly all American kids had it sometime during childhood, according to the CDC. Most recovered. But measles can be much more than an uncomfortable rash, said Susan Hassig, an infectious disease researcher at Tulane University. “I think that people need to remember that this is a preventable disease,” Hassig said. “It is a potentially dangerous disease for their children.” In the decade before the vaccine was available, 48,000 people were hospitalized per year. About 1,000 people developed dangerous brain inflammation from measles each year, and 400 to 500 died, according to the CDC. Is the measles vaccine safe? Where do vaccination rates stand? The measles, mumps

Seven people living at a Chicago shelter for migrants have tested positive for measles since last week, prompting the arrival of a team with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to guide city and state officials’ response to the infections, including vaccination efforts. Eight infections total have been reported in the city since Thursday, which the Chicago Department of Public Health said was the first instance of measles detected locally since 2019. The first case — an adult — was not a shelter resident. Measles is a contagious virus still common in many countries outside the U.S. Cases in the U.S. originate from international travelers — most often Americans who have not been vaccinated, according to the CDC. The city on Friday publicly reported the first case at the shelter housing around 1,900 people. The other cases at the former warehouse in the city’s Pilsen neighborhood quickly followed, including three confirmed Tuesday. The department said those infected include 4 children and 3 adults. Nearly 900 residents have received vaccines since Thursday night, officials said. The vaccine against measles is not recommended during pregnancy or for children younger than 1. “We haven’t seen cases of new arrivals coming with measles,” the city’s public health Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo Ige said Wednesday. “Measles cases were acquired here. And so, we have been working very hard, taking our responsibility to safeguard the health of the new arrivals seriously.” The cluster within the city-run shelter highlighted Chicago’s multi-layered struggle to respond to the arrival of nearly 37,000 migrants since 2022 when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began sending buses to so-called sanctuary cities. Chicago initially used police stations and airports as officials searched for other temporary shelters. On Tuesday, a city dashboard showed more than 11,000 people remain in city-run shelters. Providing medical care has been part of that effort; from vaccinations to treatment of conditions developed during exhausting journeys to reach the U.S. border with Mexico. Many migrants who land in Chicago come from Venezuela where a social, political and economic crisis has pushed millions into poverty. The situation along with doctor and drug shortages has affected the availability and affordability of routine care, as well as trust in medical institutions. Venezuela has reported one of the world’s lowest vaccination rates for children. Cook County officials opened a clinic to provide immediate care, vaccinations and an entryway into other public health services in 2022. Alex Normington, a spokesperson for Cook County Health, said providers offer all essential vaccinations there and more than 73,000 have been given against measles, influenza, COVID-19 and other viruses. Providers also rotate through every city shelter and have expanded their hours as the measles cases arose, Normington said. But volunteer organizations working with migrants have frequently criticized conditions inside the city’s shelters, particularly following the December death of a five-year-old boy who became ill while staying at the same shelter where the measles cases have been reported. They argue the cases are the result of the city, county, state and federal government falling short of supporting new arrivals’ health needs. “This is not the new arrivals’ fault — this is a public health emergency a long time in the making,” Annie Gomberg, a volunteer, said in a statement. “Everyone arriving here should be screened and vaccinated, just like we did

The World Health Organization says cases of measles are continuing to spike globally, with multiple large outbreaks being reported across Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. In an update on Wednesday, the U.N. health agency said Congo has reported more than 250,000 suspected cases this year, including 5,110 deaths. In Europe, there have been more than 56,000 cases in Ukraine. Sizeable outbreaks have also been reported in Brazil, Bangladesh and elsewhere. WHO noted that two large epidemics in New York are over but small outbreaks elsewhere in the U.S. continue. As of Nov. 5, there were more than 440,200 measles cases worldwide reported to WHO. In 2018, there were about 350,000 cases. Measles is among the most infectious diseases and can be prevented with two doses of vaccine. (AP)