March 11: TX-NM outbreak now in Oklahoma. Two deaths, more than 250 cases now—no end in sight.
Follow updates below, with links and more information
UPDATE March 13
The Texas-New Mexico outbreak is now formally a three-state outbreak: two new cases in Oklahoma are people who reported “exposure associated with the the Texas and New Mexico outbreak.”
Click for an article in The Atlantic about the family of the first death—a 6 year old child—and her congregation. Tip: If you hit a paywall, you might try the URL on archive.ph.
UPDATE March 11
The second death was confirmed as from measles. The score is now two deaths, over 250 current cases and rising in the what is now genetically confirmed as a combined TX-NM outbreak, with 29 people currently hospitalized. Contrary to RFK’s mumbling, hospitalizations are due to respiratory distress—significant difficulty breathing. This update from Dr. Jetelina also questions the data being reported; many more cases are suspected, as deaths are usually three per thousand cases and we’re up to two deaths now. That would indicate thousands of cases, not hundreds. After the CDC finally went to TX—a month after the outbreak got serious and two weeks after a 6 year-old child died—they weren’t welcomed with open arms by the reclusive anti-government local community.
UPDATE March 8
Following the second probable death from measles this year after no deaths for a decade, total confirmed cases in Texas and a neighboring New Mexico county are now over 200. This may go on for months, spreading cases all over the US and likely internationally because of the long incubation period (two weeks). Measles is so contagious it will infect 9 out of 10 unvaccinated people near someone who has it (and may not yet know it), and the virus hangs in the air for hours after a contagious person has been there. Spread is respiratory, like COVID, so think airplanes or any indoor space that draws a lot of people for starters. UPDATE:
The CDC site to follow the cases (and isn’t it nice to have that?)
As of March 4, the CDC is now on site in Texas to help in an outbreak that started in late January with the first death on Feb 25. Better late…
Here’s how to avoid one of the world’s most contagious diseases from the Associated Press (AP), the primary source of news used by just about every independent media, and currently locked out of Oval Office and WH briefings for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Support AP’s independent, fact-based journalism here.
Should you get a measles vaccine booster? , including info on finding out whether you were vaccinated long, long ago.
Original story with more links and context
An adult New Mexico man who tested positive for measles has died. He had not sought medical care before his death. If the cause of his death is confirmed as measles or a complication of measles, he will be the country’s second measles death in a ten years, following 6-year-old child from nearby Gaines County, Texas, who died of measles on February 25, 2025.
Texas has now had 159 cases with 10 more in the neighboring New Mexico county where the man lives. This is the worst US measles outbreak in at least six years. There had not been a US measles death since 2015, but due to anti-vax sentiment or ignorance, vaccination rates in many areas are now below the 95% level needed to provide herd immunity. In the first two months of 2025, US measles cases already exceeded the annual total in 8 of the past 15 years.
In the midst of the current epidemic and deaths, the pastor of a church 300 miles away in Fort Worth, Tx, praised one of the grades in his K-12 school for the lowest vaccination rate in the state, only 14%. “I just want to congratulate all the family members of Mercy Culture Prep that embrace freedom of health, and they’re not allowing government or science projects to affect how you live and lead your life,” he said. The Internet was unimpressed. [See a map of low vaccination Texas counties here.]
Neither of the two dead were vaccinated against measles. Cases have overwhelmingly been among people who were not vaccinated or had no known vaccination status; a few others had been partially vaccinated (only one of two required MMR doses). Officials and experts have stressed vaccination is the best protection against measles. Even HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy—who has led anti-vax sentiment for years—finally recommended vaccination, although he has since again promoted unrecognized treatments.
Catch up here with our prior posts on this epidemic:
Texas measles outbreak: thousands likely exposed, 20 hospitalized, a child dead
With three strikes in as many sentences, you’d hope he’d be out.
Here’s what cases looked like back on Feb. 21, when new cases had already exceeded the total annual cases in 8 of the last 15 years:
Click for Dr. Jetelina’s excellent epidemiology site here, with stats and information in actual easy-to-understand English, not med-speak.