The first child died of measles in the outbreak sweeping through Texas and New Mexico that is mainly affecting children who aren’t vaccinated against the virus, Texas officials announced Wednesday.
The outbreak has resulted in 124 cases of measles, most in children, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Eighteen people have been hospitalized.
Nine additional cases had been reported in New Mexico as of Tuesday, according to the state’s health department.
The child who died was “school-aged” and was hospitalized in Lubbock, Texas, last week. The death is the first from measles recorded in the U.S. in 10 years.
DSHS underscored in a news release that both the DSHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that children receive one dose of the combination measles, mumps, rubella vaccine at age 12 months to 15 months and a second dose at 4 years to 6 years of age.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the chair of the Senate, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions panel, reacted to the news on X, formerly Twitter, encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated.
“Absolutely devastating news,” he wrote. “Encouraging parents to make sure their child is up-to-date on their vaccines. The measles vaccine is safe and effective.”
Cassidy supported Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary Feb. 13 despite reservations about Kennedy’s history as a vaccine skeptic who sued drug companies.
During a Jan. 30 Senate HELP hearing on Kennedy’s nomination, Cassidy warned Republicans that people would blame the Trump administration for deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases.
“I want President Trump’s policies to succeed in making America and Americans more secure, more prosperous, healthier,” Cassidy said. “But if there’s someone that is not vaccinated because of policies or attitudes you bring to the department … who dies of a vaccine-preventable disease … it’ll be blown up in the press.
“The greatest tragedy will be [the] death. But I can also tell you an associated tragedy, well, that will cast a shadow over President Trump’s legacy, which I want to be the absolute best legacy it can be.”
Measles had been officially eliminated in the United States in 2000, according to the CDC, meaning that the only new cases in the country came from travel. There have been intermittent outbreaks in recent years, mainly among unvaccinated people.
Before the measles vaccine became available in 1963, it was estimated that about 3 million to 4 million people were infected annually and about 500 people died each year, according to the CDC.
Responding to a question during Trump’s first Cabinet meeting at the White House Wednesday afternoon, Kennedy said that there had been two measles deaths in this outbreak and that HHS is following the outbreak every day. But an HHS spokesperson said that just one measles death had been confirmed as of Wednesday afternoon.
“CDC is aware of the death of one child in Texas from measles, and our thoughts are with the family,” an HHS spokesperson said in a statement. “CDC continues to provide technical assistance, laboratory support, and vaccines as needed to the Texas Department of State Health Services and New Mexico Department of Health, which are leading the response to this outbreak.”
“It’s not unusual,” Kennedy said during the Cabinet meeting. “We have measles outbreaks every year.”
The CDC measles website was last updated last Friday, Feb. 21.
The photo caption in this report was corrected to reflect Linda McMahon’s status as Education secretary nominee.
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