A measles outbreak in the southwestern United States has claimed two lives and sickened 228 people, prompting a federal health warning.
Texas has reported 198 cases, while New Mexico has confirmed 30, with each state recording one fatality. Both victims—an unvaccinated child in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico—succumbed to complications of the highly contagious virus.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified both deaths as measles-related and warned that the outbreak is expanding rapidly. With the spring and summer travel season approaching, the agency urged healthcare professionals to remain alert for symptoms and emphasise vaccination.
Measles spreads through respiratory droplets and can linger in the air for up to two hours. While most infections cause fever, cough, and rash, the virus can lead to life-threatening complications, including pneumonia and brain inflammation.
The best protection remains vaccination, which provides 93% lifetime immunity after one dose and 97% after two.
However, immunisation rates in the US have declined recently, falling below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity.
The outbreak’s epicentre is a West Texas county with a large Mennonite community, where vaccine hesitancy has historically been high.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who has previously spread vaccine misinformation—has softened his stance, now recommending measles shots while simultaneously promoting alternative treatments such as vitamin A and steroids.
Before this outbreak, the last US measles-related death occurred in 2015, when a Washington state woman died from virus-induced pneumonia. The previous fatality was in 2003.
