The U.S. has recorded more than 300 cases of measles in just the first three months of this year, according to data published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most infections recorded in a single year since 2019.
More than 90 percent of those cases are linked to a growing outbreak that began in western Texas and has now spread to New Mexico. The Texas Department of State Health Services recorded 259 cases Friday, and an additional 35 in New Mexico. According to CDC, at least 50 people have been hospitalized.
Two additional “probable” cases linked to the outbreak in Oklahoma have not been added to the CDC’s tally yet.
This year’s total tops the 285 infections reported for all of last year. In 2019, the U.S. saw a record 1,274 cases, according to the CDC, driven largely by spread among undervaccinated communities in New York City and New York state.
That outbreak led top health officials of President Trump’s first administration to warn about the greatest number of cases reported in the country since 2000.
Measles was officially eliminated in 2000 due to a highly effective vaccination program, but vaccinations have waned, and the 2019 outbreak threatened that status. Most measles cases in the U.S. are initially introduced by an unvaccinated person exposed during international travel who then brings the virus back to spread among undervaccinated communities at home.
Almost all the cases to date are among unvaccinated individuals or in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown. Two cases have occurred in persons vaccinated with two doses, according to Texas officials.
In Texas, an unvaccinated school-aged child died from measles, the first confirmed measles death in a decade. An unvaccinated adult in New Mexico tested positive for measles after death, but that case is still under investigation.
The current outbreak represents a significant test for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who for the first time has had to reckon his past as a longtime critic of vaccines with his new leadership of the federal health establishment.
Kennedy has made two appearances on Fox News in recent weeks, where he downplayed the seriousness of measles and touted fringe theories about prevention and treatment, like the benefits of vitamin A and cod liver oil over the measles vaccine, which is the only proven way to prevent infection.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles to up to 9 out of 10 susceptible close contacts, according to the CDC.
