The measles outbreak that started in Texas before spreading to other states has expanded into the largest upsurge in the disease since it was declared eliminated in 2000, the Texas Tribune reports, citing federal health officials.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now treating the spread of the highly contagious virus across Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma as a single outbreak that’s shot past 750 confirmed cases, an agency spokesperson told the Tribune. That number exceeds the 697 reported in 2019’s New York City outbreak.
On Friday, Texas health officials revealed that the number of cases in the Lone Star State alone has reached 709. Ninety-two patients have been hospitalized since the start of the state’s outbreak, and two school-age children have died of the disease.
So far, 29 Texas counties have reported cases as the outbreak spread from a religious community with low vaccination rates located along the state’s border with New Mexico.
Most of the cases in the Texas outbreak are among people who either haven’t been vaccinated or are uncertain of their vaccination records, according to state health officials.
Infectious disease experts caution that efforts to contain the outbreak are being hampered by the unwillingness of Gov. Greg Abbott, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other top government officials to clearly advocate for the importance of vaccines.
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This article appears in Apr 30 – May 13, 2025.
