A school-age child has died from measles in west Texas. The death of the child, who was not vaccinated for measles, was confirmed by state and local health officials and comes after weeks of a growing outbreak that spans Texas and New Mexico.
It's the first reported U.S. death from the illness since 2015.
"It's predictable, when measles occurs in unvaccinated children and adults," says Dr. Carol Baker, a pediatrician and infectious diseases specialist who's retired from the Baylor College of Medicine, "I'm not surprised, but I am so sad."
More than 130 people have been sickened with measles in the two states, most of them children under the age of 18.
According to NPR's review of CDC data, the ongoing outbreak in Texas and New Mexico is the largest since 2019, when two closely related outbreaks sickened hundreds in New York.
The outbreak started in Gaines County in west Texas, which has a population of about 23,000. It has been home to a community of Mennonite ranchers since 1977 according to the Seminole, Texas chamber of commerce.
Separately, an adult measles case was confirmed in Rockwall County in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro region of north central Texas. "At this time, we do not believe this case is connected to the West Texas outbreak," said Dr. Dick Perritt, the county health authority, in a statement posted to social media. "However, our team is closely monitoring the situation to swiftly identify and address any new cases." Measles is a very contagious respiratory disease that was declared to be eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 due to high rates of inoculation with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, known as the MMR shot.
Before vaccination became widely available in 1963, an estimated 400-500 people died from measles each year and 48,000 were hospitalized.
In the last five years or so, U.S. average school vaccination rates for the MMR shot have fallen below 95% — which is the CDC's recommended level for preventing outbreaks.
The vaccination rate is far lower in some places, including Gaines County where the rate has dropped to just under 82%.
"During the time before vaccination, measles has a mortality of around 5% and in impoverished areas maybe 20% to 30%," says Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, who heads up the infectious diseases division at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "So this is an entirely preventable death. That's the tragedy of it."
He says it's important that the public knows that "when we don't have widespread vaccination, we risk these epidemics and that unfortunately, epidemics will eventually result in deaths."
U.S. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. addressed rising concerns about the situation during a meeting of President Trump's cabinet on Wednesday.
"We're following the measles outbreak every day," Kennedy said in response to a question from a reporter, adding that it's "not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year."
According to the CDC, there have been three outbreaks so far this year. An outbreak is defined as three or more related cases.
In comparison, 16 outbreaks were reported in the U.S. last year, and a total of 285 cases, although not all those cases were associated with outbreaks.
In his comments, Kennedy said "there are two people who have died" during the outbreak — a statement that contradicts official reports from both local and state public health authorities, who told NPR there's only one confirmed death.
A spokesperson for HHS contacted by NPR did not address whether Kennedy misspoke, but said "CDC is aware of the death of one child in Texas from measles, and our thoughts are with the family."
Will Stone contributed to this report.
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