(Reuters) -The Texas health department reported 646 cases of measles in the state on Friday, an increase of 22 cases from three days ago, as the United States battles one of its worst outbreaks of the childhood disease. There have been three confirmed deaths from measles this year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease […]
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Measles cases in Texas rise to 646, state health department says
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(Reuters) -The Texas health department reported 646 cases of measles in the state on Friday, an increase of 22 cases from three days ago, as the United States battles one of its worst outbreaks of the childhood disease.
There have been three confirmed deaths from measles this year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
Researchers have warned that the country is at a tipping point for the return of endemic measles, a quarter century after the disease was declared eradicated in the country.
Cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, rose to 393 from 386 reported on Tuesday, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
New Mexico’s health department reported 66 cases on Friday, one more case from its last update. Most of the state’s cases are from Lea County, adjacent to Gaines County in Texas.
As of April 24, 2025, a total of 884 confirmed measles cases were reported by 30 jurisdictions, with 11 outbreaks reported this year, according to the CDC.
U.S. pediatricians and infectious disease experts say the fight against rising measles cases nationwide is being hampered by a lack of forceful advocacy for vaccination from government health officials and statements on unproven treatments that are confusing parents.
According to the CDC, 97% of the country’s measles cases were found in individuals who were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)