Texas measles outbreak grows as US surpasses case count from 2024 – University of Minnesota Twin Cities

quantic69 / iStockThe measles outbreak in Texas has risen by 36 cases, pushing the US case count for the year past the number for all of 2024.The outbreak of the highly contagious virus, which began in late January and is centered in the western part of the state, now stands at 259 cases, according to the latest update from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Of those patients, 257 are either unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status, and 201 are children ages 17 or younger. Thirty-four patients have been hospitalized, with one death in an unvaccinated child who had no known underlying conditions.Eleven counties to date have reported cases, but two thirds of the cases (174; 67%) are in Gaines County, which has one of the highest rates of school-aged children in Texas who have opted out of at least one vaccine. The county is home to a large Mennonite community with low vaccination rates.DSHS officials said they have determined that three of the case-patients previously listed as vaccinated were not vaccinated. Two had received their measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine doses 1 to 2 days before their symptoms started and after they had been exposed to the virus. The third had a vaccine reaction that mimicked a measles infection and has been removed from the case count.In New Mexico, meanwhile, the case count in that state’s outbreak has grown by two and now stands at 35. Of those patients, 33 are either unvaccinated or have unknown vaccine status. Thirty-three of the cases are in Lea County, which borders Gaines County in Texas, and 2 are in neighboring Eddy County.Officials in both states say additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreaks because of the highly contagious nature of the disease and are urging people to get vaccinated. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles.Nationwide, a total of 301 measles cases have been reported by 15 jurisdictions, according to an update today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 285 cases were reported in all of 2024.Fifty of the case-patients (17%) have been hospitalized, and two measles-related deaths have been reported for the year. In addition to the child who died in Texas, New Mexico health officials reported last week that their lab had confirmed the presence of the virus in an unvaccinated adult who recently died. The cause of that death is still under investigation.Two people with reported exposure associated with the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks now have symptoms. The patient may have exposed people at Washington Dulles International Airport and a pediatric emergency department in Maryland.Texas has added 36 new measles cases, pushing the US case count to 301. Suspected case-patients, one of them a woman who became ill while pregnant, have links to the western part of Uganda.Like the recent WHO recommendation, the picks change the H3N2 strain for egg- and cell-based vaccines.Authorities say cases in Philadelphia and New York have no connection to ongoing outbreaks.From 2021 to 2023, 23% of participants developed long-COVID symptoms, with 56% of those infected in 2021 reporting symptoms for 2 years. Though effective for other pathogens, the aging process didn’t inactivate H5N1 avian flu virus in most raw cheese samples.The cats were part of a group that lived on a poultry farm hit by the virus a few weeks earlier.Only 4% of survey respondents report having consumed raw (unpasteurized) milk in the past year.Help make CIDRAP’s vital work possibleCIDRAP – Center for Infectious Disease Research & PolicyResearch and Innovation Office, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MNEmail us© 2025 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights Reserved.The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employerResearch and Innovation Office |   Contact U of M  |  Privacy PolicyNewsletter subscribe

Source: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/texas-measles-outbreak-grows-us-surpasses-case-count-2024