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Earlier this year, a measles outbreak started in western Texas and spread into New Mexico. On March 20, there were 378 reported cases. As per the CDC’s latest update on April 17, there are now 800 confirmed measles cases reported by more than 25 different states, which means that it more than doubled within a month. Also, key word: reported. We have no idea how many people have simply hedged their bets at home and not said anything. That’s pretty scary, actually.
Earlier reports listed these states grouped by geography. Now, they’re listed in alphabetical order, meaning that the outbreak has become too big to even easily keep track-of via map. We’re at the point that the US is at risk of losing its measles eliminations status (earned in 2000) by next January if we keep this rate up. To make matters even more frustrating, just about every case has occurred among unvaccinated individuals. The times, they are a-changin’.
Half of states in the US are now reporting measles cases, with the national total surpassing 800 cases so far this year, according to a CNN tally. Most of the cases are concentrated in a multistate outbreak involving Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and possibly Kansas that reached 709 cases Friday, according to state health department updates.
Texas has reported 597 outbreak-associated cases, New Mexico reported 63 cases, and Oklahoma reported 12 cases – nine confirmed and three probable – as of Friday. New Mexico and Oklahoma’s numbers have stayed the same since Tuesday.
Cases in Kansas, which the state health department says may be linked to the larger outbreak, have reached 37 as of Wednesday. Experts say these numbers are all a severe undercount because many cases are going unreported. The multistate outbreak has put 69 people in the hospital across Texas, New Mexico and Kansas, five more since Tuesday’s update.
Nationally, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that at least 85 people have been hospitalized, accounting for 11% of confirmed cases. CDC data shows that only 3% of cases this year have been reported in people who have gotten one or two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Local health officials are scrambling to increase vaccinations, especially in heavily undervaccinated communities. Clinics in Lubbock, Texas, near the epicenter of the outbreak, just expanded their hours.
These Lubbock clinics have administered 450 more doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine than typically would have been given by this time of year, Katherine Wells, director of Lubbock Public Health said this week. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against the measles virus.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. Experts warn that growing case numbers could threaten the country’s elimination status if spread of the outbreak continues.
“That … would happen after 12 months of ongoing circulation of the same sequence,” Dr. David Sugerman, a senior scientist at the CDC, said Tuesday at a meeting of the agency’s vaccine advisers.
That date would be around January 20, 2026, he said. Two children in Texas have died in the current multistate outbreak, and a third death in New Mexico is under investigation. They were all unvaccinated.
The World Health Organization said that cases in Mexico have also been linked to cases in Texas. Three cases in Colorado are being investigated for connection to the outbreak after two of the people traveled to Mexico. Another case was identified after a Pennsylvania resident traveled to Texas, though it is unclear what part of the state the person visited. In a news release last week, the Arkansas health department said that the second case of measles identified in the state this year was “exposed during out of state travel,” but no further details were provided.
Many cases in other states have been linked to international travel.
“Experts say these numbers are all a severe undercount because many cases are going unreported.” I have said since this outbreak started that the numbers we are hearing are only as good as what was being reported. We’re already at approx. 11% of confirmed cases nationally being hospitalized. It is bad enough that there are so many extreme members of our many American communities that are so rabidly against vaccination. This insane commitment to rugged individualism has caused many to lose the plot and forget that society is only as healthy as its most unhealthy member.
Since the election, I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the political posts on my local, non-political ‘mom groups’ on Facebook. About a month ago, there was definitely an uptick (more so than usual) in moms asking for advice on which pediatricians would take their kids without having to follow the vaccination schedule. Some mothers are open to doing a more spread-out schedule, but the majority have been so spooked by TikTok, Twitter, Instagram Live, etc, that they would literally rather risk their kids getting a deadly disease than vaccinate them.
Note by CB: If you’re in the US, you can schedule MMR boosters for you and your children at your local pharmacy such as CVS, Kroger or Walgreens. You do not need a prescription from your doctor. Vaccines are safe and effective.
Photo note by CB: Some photos are from an interview with parents in Texas who refuse to vaccinate their children. Their six-year-old daughter died of measles and they say it was God’s will. They won’t vaccinate their surviving children. This interview was conducted and promoted by a organization founded by HHS director Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
