The measles outbreak in Texas has risen by 36 cases, pushing the US case count for the year past the number for all of 2024.
The outbreak of the highly contagious virus, which began in late January and is centered in the western part of the state, now stands at 259 cases, according to the latest update from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Of those patients, 257 are either unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status, and 201 are children ages 17 or younger. Thirty-four patients have been hospitalized, with one death in an unvaccinated child who had no known underlying conditions.
Eleven counties to date have reported cases, but two thirds of the cases (174; 67%) are in Gaines County, which has one of the highest rates of school-aged children in Texas who have opted out of at least one vaccine. The county is home to a large Mennonite community with low vaccination rates.
DSHS officials said they have determined that three of the case-patients previously listed as vaccinated were not vaccinated. Two had received their measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine doses 1 to 2 days before their symptoms started and after they had been exposed to the virus. The third had a vaccine reaction that mimicked a measles infection and has been removed from the case count.
In New Mexico, meanwhile, the case count in that state's outbreak has grown by two and now stands at 35. Of those patients, 33 are either unvaccinated or have unknown vaccine status. Thirty-three of the cases are in Lea County, which borders Gaines County in Texas, and 2 are in neighboring Eddy County.
Officials in both states say additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreaks because of the highly contagious nature of the disease and are urging people to get vaccinated. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles.
More than 300 cases nationwide
Nationwide, a total of 301 measles cases have been reported by 15 jurisdictions, according to an update today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 285 cases were reported in all of 2024.
Fifty of the case-patients (17%) have been hospitalized, and two measles-related deaths have been reported for the year. In addition to the child who died in Texas, New Mexico health officials reported last week that their lab had confirmed the presence of the virus in an unvaccinated adult who recently died. The cause of that death is still under investigation.
