CDC Responds to Texas Measles Outbreak: Second Child Dies

Measles Outbreak in Texas

• ⚠️ The CDC is sending a GO team to Texas following the second child's death from measles.
• 📌 Both children who died were from Gaines County, an epicenter of the outbreak near the New Mexico border.
• 📈 This marks the state's largest measles outbreak in 30 years, with the disease having been eliminated in the US in 2000.

Vaccination and Public Health Response

• 📉 The resurgence of measles is partly attributed to low vaccination rates.
• 👧 An 8-year-old unvaccinated girl from Levelland died last Thursday, following the death of an unvaccinated 6-year-old girl in late February.
• 👨‍⚕️ Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with the families and acknowledged the MMR vaccine as the most effective way to prevent measles spread.

National and Local Impact

• 📊 Texas has reported at least 499 cases and 56 hospitalizations so far.
• 🌎 Nationally, there are over 600 confirmed measles cases across 21 states, more than double the total for all of 2024.
• ✈️ Health officials have alerted the public to potential exposures in various locations, including GreatWolf Lodge, Greatvine Mills Mall, and Hobby Airport in Houston.