Measles outbreaks concentrated in western Texas are one of the biggest and deadly in decades – announced Monday, state health officials said.
No new cases have been reported in counties that previously provided evidence of ongoing transmissions in more than 42 days, according to the announcement. It is considered that the occurrence has ended after this time. This is because it suggests that two incubation periods have passed. This is the amount of time it takes to get sick after exposure.
Texas has confirmed at least 762 cases of measles associated with outbreaks since late January. More than two-thirds of cases were children, and two school-age children from Texas have passed away. The first death from measles in the United States since 2015.
“I would like to highlight the tireless work of state public health professionals who contributed to contain one of the most contagious viruses. At this point, we arrived through a comprehensive outbreak response, including teaching the public about measles through testing, vaccinations, disease surveillance and recognition campaigns.” “I would also like to recognize the many health professionals who have identified and treated cases of the virus that most providers have not seen in person before this outbreak.”
Cases related to the Texas outbreak have also been reported in New Mexico, where one person died, in Oklahoma and Kansas.
New Mexico reported three new cases on Thursday, bringing up to 100 state totals this year, and the state’s health department confirmed Monday that it believes the outbreak is still ongoing.
“Our agency sees this outbreak as part of a large local outbreak across the country, including Texas,” a spokesman for the New Mexico Health Department told CNN in an email. “We are still urging New Mexicans to get vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) as a defense against the virus.”
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Overall, the US has reported more than 1,350 measles cases this year – for more than 30 years – the record number since 2000 was declared excluded in the country.
Most outbreak-related cases in Texas are found in and around Gaines County, and are one of the lowest in the state’s state’s lowest rates of measles vaccination among kindergarteners. In Texas and across the country, the majority of measles were in people who had not been vaccinated. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US shows that only about 8% of cases this year have at least one dose of the Measles-Munz-Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Texas health officials say “The end of this outbreak does not mean that the measles threat is over.”
“As there are ongoing outbreaks of measles in North America and around the world, there are likely additional cases of measles in Texas this year,” according to a statement sent Monday. “People should continue to be vigilant and test for measles if their patients have symptoms that are compatible with the virus.”
At least 41 states have reported cases of measles this year, and vaccination compensation among kindergarteners was repeated last year. For the 2024-25 grade, the record share of kindergarteners was mostly exempt from vaccines needed for personal or religious reasons, CDC data shows.
Fix: Previous versions of this story incorrectly described the time since the outbreak of measles on the scale of the West Texas outbreak.
