Texas measles cases rise to 223 as New Mexico reports first death from the outbreak

The number of confirmed cases in Texas’ measles outbreak has reached 223, state health officials revealed Tuesday. Twenty-nine of those infected have been hospitalized.

Of the total, 156 are in Gaines County, the Great Plains-area county in West Texas that’s been at the center of the flare-up since the first cases were documented in January. So far, one child has died from measles during the outbreak, Texas’ worst in roughly three decades.

The majority of Texans infected with the highly communicable disease are unvaccinated or uncertain of their vaccination status, according to the state’s Department of State Health Services. So far, only five cases have been among people who have received at least one vaccination against measles.

New Mexico officials also reported three new cases Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 33. The state, located across the border from Gaines County, suffered its first measles-related death last week — an unvaccinated adult who didn’t seek medical care, according to the Associated Press. 

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This article appears in Mar 5-18, 2025.