West Texas reports nearly 200 measles cases. New Mexico is up to 30
[March 08, 2025]
By DEVI SHASTRI
A historic measles outbreak in West Texas is just short of 200 cases,
Texas state health officials said Friday, while the number of cases in
neighboring New Mexico tripled to 30.
Most of the cases across both states are in people younger than 18 and
people who are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.
Texas health officials identified 39 new infections of the highly
contagious disease, bringing the total count in the West Texas outbreak
to 198 people since it began in late January. Twenty-three people have
been hospitalized so far.
Last week, a school-age child died of measles in Texas, the nation's
first measles death in a decade. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention announced this week that they were sending a team to
Texas to help local public health officials respond to the outbreak.
New Mexico health officials had been reporting for weeks a steady number
of cases in Lea County — which borders the epicenter of Texas' outbreak.
But on Friday, state health officials provided The Associated Press a
week-by-week count that shows cases have steadily increased from 14
cases in the week of Feb. 9 to 30 this week.
A spokesman for the health department said more cases are expected and
that many of the cases reported Friday weren't identified until after
people's illnesses had run their course. The department has said it
hasn’t been able to prove a clear connection to the Texas outbreak,
though on Feb. 14, it said a link is “suspected.”
On Thursday, New Mexico health officials confirmed an unvaccinated adult
who died without seeking medical care tested positive for measles. The
state medical investigator has not announced the official cause of
death, but the state health department said Friday it is
“measles-related.”
The CDC said Friday it has also confirmed measles cases in Alaska,
California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York City,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington. But the Texas and New Mexico
outbreaks make up for most of the nation’s case count.
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Matt Caldwell, left, a Lubbock Fire Department official, administers
a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to Clair May, 61, at the
Lubbock Health Department, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock,
Texas. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon)
 The rise in measles cases has been a
major test for U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who has questioned the safety
of childhood vaccines. Recently, he has stopped short of
recommending people get the vaccine, and has promoted unproven
treatments for the virus, like cod liver oil.
Kennedy dismissed the Texas outbreak as “not unusual," though most
local doctors in the West Texas region told The Associated Press
that they have never seen a case of measles in their careers until
this outbreak.
The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is safe and highly effective
at preventing infection and severe cases. The first shot is
recommended for children ages 12 to 15 months, and the second for
ages 4 to 6 years.
Childhood vaccination rates across the country have declined as an
increasing number of parents seek exemptions from public school
requirements for personal or religious reasons. In Gaines County,
Texas, which has the majority of cases, the kindergarten measles
vaccination rate is 82% - far below the 95% needed to prevent
outbreaks.
Many of Gaines County's cases are in the county's “close-knit,
undervaccinated” Mennonite community, a diverse group that has
historically had lower vaccination rates and whose members can be
distrusting of government mandates and intervention.
Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to
two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the
virus if exposed, according to the CDC. Owing to the success of the
vaccine, the U.S. considered measles eliminated in 2000.
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