Texas measles cases rise to 146 in an outbreak that led to a child's death

The number of people with measles in Texas increased to 146 in an outbreak that led this week to the death of an unvaccinated school-aged child, health officials said Friday.

The number of cases — Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years — increased by 22 since Tuesday. The Texas Department of State Health Services said cases span over nine counties in West Texas, including almost 100 in Gaines County, and 20 patients have been hospitalized so far.

The child who died Tuesday night in the outbreak is the first U.S. death from the highly contagious but preventable respiratory disease since 2015, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The child was treated at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, though the facility said the patient didn’t live in Lubbock County.

The virus has largely spread through rural, oil rig-dotted West Texas, with cases concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community, state health department spokesperson Lara Anton has said.

Gaines County has a strong homeschooling and private school community. It is also home to one of the highest rates of school-aged children in Texas who have opted out of at least one required vaccine, with nearly 14% skipping a required dose last school year.

The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) 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. Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling, and death.

Vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks.

The U.S. had considered measles, a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours, eliminated in 2000, which meant there had been a halt in the continuous spread of the disease for at least a year. Measles cases rose in 2024, including a Chicago outbreak that sickened more than 60.

Eastern New Mexico has nine cases of measles currently, but the state health department said there is no connection to the outbreak in West Texas.

What is measles?

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to nine out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed.

Most kids will recover from measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling, and death.

Is the vaccine safe?

Yes, the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and highly effective in preventing measles infection and severe cases of the disease.

The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old, and the second for children between 4 and 6 years old. The vaccine series is required for kids before kindergarten in public schools nationwide.

Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, the U.S. saw some 3 million to 4 million cases per year. Now, there are usually fewer than 200 in a normal year.

There is no link between the vaccine and autism, despite a now-discredited study and health disinformation.

Why do vaccination rates matter?

In communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called “herd immunity.”

But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots.

The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60. Five years earlier, measles cases were the worst in almost three decades in 2019.

Gaines County has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine, with nearly 14% of K-12 children in the 2023-24 school year. Health officials said that number is likely higher because it doesn’t include many children who are homeschooled and whose data would not be reported.

What are public health officials doing to stop the spread?

Health workers are hosting regular vaccination clinics and screening efforts in Texas, as well as working with schools to educate people about the importance of vaccination and offering shots.

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