Ninety cases of measles have been reported in Texas in less than a month, marking the worst outbreak of the disease in the border state in more than 30 years. At least 16 people have been admitted to the hospital. Nine cases of measles have also been reported in the neighboring state of New Mexico.
According to officials at the Texas Department of State Health Services, the outbreak has been concentrated in the northwest of the state. At least 77 of these cases are in children, with 26 being 4 years old or younger.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that can be deadly. Early symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, and conjunctivitis. It is usually distinguished by white spots on the inside of the mouth as well as a generalized rash all over the body.
According to the Pan American Health Organization, measles once killed 2.6 million people a year worldwide, with 12,000 of these victims being in the Americas. The first measles vaccine arrived in 1963, and following its rollout in the US, cases across the country fell by 97 percent between 1965 and 1968. Massive worldwide vaccination campaigns then spread these gains across the globe. Between 1980 and 2015, worldwide cases fell by 95 percent thanks to the combined vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), which is given in two doses starting at 1 year of age.
However, skepticism about the effects of vaccines, including MMR, has spread throughout the world. For example, the current outbreak in Texas has centered around Gaines County, which has one of the highest vaccine exemption rates in the state (18 percent). Many of the patients are children whose parents chose not to immunize them against measles.
While most states in the US require students to have the MMR vaccine to attend school, some states allow families to request an exemption from vaccination for their children, even for nonmedical reasons. Texas is one such state. In the current outbreak, 85 of the 90 measles cases are in unvaccinated people.
“We respect everyone’s right to get vaccinated or not,” Albert Pilkington, CEO of the Seminole Hospital District in Gaines Country, told the Texas Standard. “That’s what being an American is all about, isn’t it?”
In 2024, 285 measles cases were reported in the United States, the highest number since 2019. Forty-two percent were children under the age of 5.
The outlook for preventing this disease is not bright. The measles outbreak in Texas comes just a week after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as head of the US Department of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr. rose to prominence first as an environmental advocate and then as a notorious anti-vaccine activist.
Kennedy has repeatedly spread vaccine misinformation—for example, that autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are caused by, among other factors, harmful agents in vaccines. In 2021 he was named by the Center for Countering Digital Hate as one of the “Disinformation Dozen”—one of 12 leading online anti-vaxxers.
Neither Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nor Texas governor Greg Abbott have commented on the state’s health emergency. Neither responded immediately to a request for comment from WIRED.
This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.