US Measles Outbreak Cases Already Surpassed 2024 Total

US measles cases have outpaced last year's total, with 301 confirmed cases reported as of Friday, a 36% increase over last week's number. The majority of patients in the 14 states where there are outbreaks are either unvaccinated or have an unknown immunization status, with over 90% of people diagnosed with measles this year being unvaccinated. The outbreak is centered in Texas, particularly in Gaines County, where roughly one in five children are unvaccinated, and has also spread to neighboring New Mexico. Bloomberg's Sam Fazeli reports

Less than three full months into 2025, US measles cases have outpaced last year’s total, as a worrying outbreak linked to two deaths continues to spread.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday originally reported 308 confirmed cases, a figure it later updated to 301, which is a 36% increase over last week’s number. The US reported 285 measles cases in all of 2024. The vast majority of patients in the 14 states where there are outbreaks are either unvaccinated or have an unknown immunization status, health authorities said.

Texas, the epicenter of the outbreak with the first confirmed measles death in a decade, is home to the majority of confirmed cases, with 259 as of the state’s update Friday. About 13% of diagnosed patients have been hospitalized, state authorities said. A school-aged child, who was not vaccinated and had no underlying conditions, died of the disease in February, the state said.

Health officials in neighboring New Mexico have reported an adult died and then tested positive for measles. The state has not yet confirmed the cause of death.

More than 90% of people diagnosed with measles this year have been unvaccinated, according to the CDC. The virus is highly contagious, infecting up to 90% of people exposed to a positive case who are not already immune. The MMR vaccine is 93% effective in preventing infection after one dose.

The Texas epicenter is in Gaines County, a rural area in the South Plains region where roughly one in five children are unvaccinated. The county is home to a large Mennonite community, and members often apply for religious exemptions to school vaccine mandates. New Mexico’s cases are concentrated in Lea County, which borders Gaines County.

The CDC dispatched a team of experts to Texas after the state health department requested federal help tracking the outbreak. On March 7, the CDC issued an alert recommending that people traveling to the outbreak areas in Texas and New Mexico consult their doctors beforehand and watch for signs of measles infection for three weeks after visiting.

The outbreak comes just weeks into the tenure of US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has echoed discredited theories about vaccine safety, including debunked claims that the MMR vaccine has ties to childhood autism.

In an opinion piece earlier this month, Kennedy endorsed the vaccine’s ability to protect children from measles but also touted unconventional remedies, like vitamin A, to the alarm of some health officials.

The US isn’t alone. Europe reported 127,350 measles cases in 2024, twice as many as the year before and the highest level since 1997.

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