The measles outbreak continues to spread in areas of west Texas and New Mexico and has now reached several other states, including Pennsylvania, California and Oklahoma.
So far in 2025, more than 250 measles cases have been reported across multiple states, resulting in two confirmed deaths, including that of an unvaccinated child – the first death from measles in the US in a decade.
This comes as Robert F Kennedy Jr, the top US health official, continued to sow mistrust about vaccines this week, claiming in an interview on Fox News that, among other things, the measles vaccine “causes all the illnesses that measles itself cause[s]”. These comments arose despite research showing that the side-effects of the measles vaccine are far less serious than those associated with the virus itself.
Measles is one of the most contagious human diseases and can lead to life-threatening complications. The most effective way to protect against measles is through the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Receiving two doses of the MMR vaccine provides 97% effectiveness in preventing measles for life, per the CDC, and one dose offers about 93% protection.
The CDC emphasizes that when over 95% of a community is vaccinated, the majority of individuals benefit from community immunity.
In Texas alone, 223 cases of measles have been reported since late January, according to the state government there, leading to 29 hospitalizations. Notably, more than half of these cases involve children under 17 years of age.
Among those infected in Texas, the state government has reported that 80 individuals had not received the vaccine, 138 have an unknown vaccination status, and five have received at least one dose.
As of 6 March, measles cases have also been reported in 2025 in California, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington, with a majority of the cases occurring in unvaccinated individuals.
This week, the first cases of measles were confirmed in Oklahoma, where the state department of health reported two cases, and in Vermont, where officials confirmed a school-aged child had been infected.
The first measles cases were also confirmed this week in Los Angeles county and Fresno county, California.
In New Mexico, the department of health declared an outbreak and reported this week that the measles case count had risen to 33, including a new case in Eddy county, the first reported outside of Lea county.
Most of the cases involve unvaccinated residents, the department said, and so far, one case has required hospitalization.
Last week, the CDC said that more measles cases “are expected as this outbreak continues to expand rapidly”.
Measles was declared officially eliminated from the US in 2000, meaning that the virus is not continuously spreading within the country, according to the CDC.
On Thursday, Dave Weldon, a former Republican congressman and doctor from Florida who has questioned the safety of vaccine, who was Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the CDC, was set to appear before the Senate health, education, labor and pensions committee as part of the confirmation process.
But, just hours before, on Thursday morning, the White House decided to withdraw the nomination, first reported by Axios.
