UPDATE MARCH 14, 2025: Texas now has 259 reported cases of measles, with just two of the victims being fully vaccinated. Breakthrough infections, which happen when a person has received two doses of the MMR vaccine, are extremely rare, reports ABC News. Two doses of the measles vaccine provide up to 97% protection.
Public health authorities expect the number of measles cases in Texas and the U.S. to increase in the coming weeks. Three months into 2025, the U.S. has exceeded the total number of reported measles cases in the country in 2024, reports CNN.
So far, two people have died as a result of the outbreak: one six-year-old girl in Texas, and one adult in New Mexico.
UPDATE MARCH 11, 2025: Texas now has 223 reported measles cases, mostly among children and teens who are not vaccinated or whose vaccination status is not known. At least 29 people have been hospitalized. Just five people who have contracted the virus had only one dose of the MMR vaccine, reports ABC News.
Public health officials are concerned the outbreak could spread when people travel during spring break, and they are carrying out their infectious disease plans, reports NBCDFW. For example, las week Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth announced they have a half dozen negative-pressure rooms to care for children who have been infected.
Some school districts are offering vaccine clinics to help stem the spread of the virus. The MMR vaccine is extremely effective at preventing measles infections and is very safe.
Measles cases have been reported in several states, including Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Washington.
UPDATE MARCH 10, 2025: A second unvaccinated person has died from measles. The first fatality was reported in Texas in late February. The latest person to die from the highly contagious virus was an adult, and the fatality occurred in New Mexico, which borders the Lone Star State, reports Today.
The CDC reports a total of 222 measles cases in several states, including Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington. At least 198 of those cases are in Texas, reports the Texas Tribune.
Related Article: The U.S. Will Soon Have a Hospital Bed Shortage, Study Finds
Another extremely concerning development is the growing number of social media posts by some parents arranging for “measles parties” so their children can catch the virus and then develop immunity, reports Newsweek. Public health experts say this is a dangerous practice, particularly given that the measles vaccine is widely available and very safe. Contracting the virus can result in serious complications, especially in young children or people with compromised immune systems.
The outbreak is having a significant impact on rural West Texas due to the area’s aging infrastructure, not enough primary care providers, and long distances between testing sites and labs. The Texas Tribune reports that 64 counties in the state don’t have hospitals, and 25 lack primary care physicians. Twenty-six rural hospitals in Texas closed between 2010 and 2020.
Most of the measles cases are in unvaccinated school-aged children. The MMR vaccine is extremely effective at preventing measles infections.
UPDATE MARCH 5, 2025: The measles outbreak in Texas has grown to 159 cases — mostly in children — and the CDC has personnel on the ground to help with the response, reports KSL.
Of the 159 people who have contracted the highly contagious virus, 22 are currently hospitalized. All but five of the cases are in unvaccinated people or people with unknown vaccination status, reports USA Today.
Last week, a school-aged child with no underlying health conditions died. It was the first death from measles in the U.S. since 2015 and the first in a child since 2003.
The MMR vaccine is very safe and extremely effective at preventing measles infections.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 27, 2027: As of Thursday, a total of 164 measles cases have been reported in nine states, according to the CDC.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 26, 2025: A “school-aged child who was not vaccinated” has died from measles in West Texas.
The child, who was hospitalized last week at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, died overnight, reports the Associated Press.
The measles outbreak in West Texas has grown to 124 cases across nine counties. It’s the largest outbreak in Texas in 30 years.
There are also nine cases in New Mexico. Georgia had two cases two weeks ago. A confirmed case of measles in an adult has been confirmed in Kentucky, as have three cases in New Jersey. The three people in New Jersey who have contracted the virus were not vaccinated, and individuals who visited Englewood Hospital’s Emergency Department on February 9 may have been exposed, reports CBS News.
Cases have also been reported in Alaska, California, New York and Rhode Island, reports the Guardian.
Tuesday’s death of the unvaccinated school-aged child is the first from measles in a decade, according to the CDC.
Most of the individuals who have contracted the disease have not been vaccinated for measles. The MMR vaccine is very safe and extremely effective at preventing measles infections. Before widespread vaccination became commonplace and nearly eradicated the virus, 400-500 children died from measles every year.
However, anti-vaccine and “health freedom” groups claim the highly contagious virus is being caused by the MMR vaccine, reports NBC News. Those claims have been thoroughly debunked.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 25, 2025: Measles cases have now spread into more populated areas of the country, with the U.S. approaching nearly 100 reported cases.
The highly infectious virus has now spread into New Mexico, reports Science Alert. Campus Safety previously reported that there were measles outbreaks in Texas and Georgia.
Overall, at least 23 of the 93 people who are known to have contracted measles in the U.S. have been hospitalized, with more than 80% of the cases involving persons 18 years or younger. Several private schools have been shut down in an attempt to stem the spread of the outbreak.
Experts are concerned that this is just the start of a much bigger outbreak, reports KFF Health News.
The most effective way to prevent getting measles is to be vaccinated.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 13, 2025:
Health officials in Gaines County, Texas have confirmed that the number of people identified with measles is now up to two dozen, and all of the confirmed cases involve unvaccinated residents, reports CBS News. Nine patients have been hospitalized.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins, said the outbreak was “completely preventable.”
Studies have found that vaccines are 97% effective at preventing measles infection.
ORIGINAL FEBRUARY 12, 2025 POST:
Officials in Western Texas and Atlanta are warning of measles outbreaks among communities with low vaccination rates.
South Plains Public Health District Director Zach Holbrooks said Monday that his department was first notified in late January about two cases in Gaines County, which has one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state, AP reports. Fifteen cases have now been identified in the county, mostly in school-aged children. Some of the cases appear to be connected to private religious schools in the district.
“I wouldn’t say they’re all connected, but our teams are looking into exposure sites and the background of those cases,” said Holbrooks.
Local health officials organized a drive-through vaccination clinic last week and are offering screening services to residents.
RELATED ARTICLE: Measles Forces Class Cancellation at Chicago School, Exposes 300 People at California Hospital
Texas law allows children to get an exemption from school vaccines for “reasons of conscience,” including religious beliefs. According to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), the percentage of Texas children with exemptions increased from 0.76% in 2014 to 2.32% in 2024.
In Gaines County, nearly 14% of students from kindergarten through grade 12 had an exemption in the 2023-2024 school year — more than five times the state average and more than four times the national average of 3.3%. DSHS spokesperson Lara Anton said the number of unvaccinated children is likely significantly higher since Gaines County has many children who are homeschooled and whose data isn’t reported.
“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities,” DSHS warned in a statement.
Georgia Health Department Reports 2 More Measles Cases
Last week, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported two additional measles cases in the metro-Atlanta area. In late January, the department announced a person who tested positive for measles sought medical treatment at three locations before quarantining. As a result of those visits, epidemiologists have identified over 300 people who were exposed to the contagious person, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Keisha Francis-Christian, Gwinnett County Board of Health’s epidemiology program manager, said residents in over 20 counties have been impacted by the disease investigation, including at least 114 in Gwinnett County. The two newly reported cases are unvaccinated family members of that individual.
CDC data shows that during the 2019-2020 school year, 93.1% of Georgia kindergarteners received the measles vaccine. Last school year, that number dropped to 88.4%.
Measles Vaccination Rates Throughout the U.S.
In a monthly measles update released Feb. 7, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it has received reports of at least 14 cases this year from five jurisdictions: Georgia, Texas, Alaska, New York City, and Rhode Island. All patients were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status and six were hospitalized for isolation or treatment of complications.
Last year, the U.S. had 284 measles cases — the highest number in five years. That number comes as kindergarten vaccination rates against measles, mumps, and rubella have dropped below the 95% threshold that the CDC says is needed to prevent community outbreaks.
RELATED ARTICLE: 7th Case of Measles Reported at Florida Elementary School
Before the measles vaccine was developed in the 1960s, the disease killed hundreds of children each year in the U.S. In 2023, measles killed more than 107,000 globally. The victims were mostly unvaccinated or undervaccinated children under the age of five. Although a measles death has not been reported in the U.S. since 2015, Adam Ratner, a pediatric infectious disease physician based in New York City, told NPR that not getting vaccinated against measles is a slippery slope.
“It is the most infectious disease that we know by far — much more infectious than flu, much more infectious than COVID or polio or Ebola or anything else that I can think of,” he said. “When vaccination levels start to fall, we see measles outbreaks first, and then those are often followed by outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases, things that are a little less contagious than measles.”
