Measles Outbreak in the US: A Growing Concern
By DEVI SHASTRI, AP Health Writer
It’s been a year since a measles outbreak began in West Texas, and international health authorities are set to meet in April to determine if the US has lost its measles-free designation. Experts fear that the vaccine-preventable virus has regained a foothold, and the US may soon follow Canada in losing the achievement of having eliminated it.
The reevaluation is largely symbolic and hinges on whether a single measles chain has spread uninterrupted within the US for at least 12 months. Public health scientists are investigating whether the now-ended Texas outbreak is linked to active ones in Utah, Arizona, and South Carolina. However, doctors and scientists say the US – and North America overall – has a measles problem, regardless of the decision.
Measles Cases on the Rise
“It is really a question of semantics,” said Dr. Jonathan Temte, a Wisconsin family physician who helped certify the US was measles-free in 2000. “The bottom line is the conditions are sufficient to allow this many cases to occur. And that gets back to de-emphasizing a safe and effective vaccine.” Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 2,144 measles cases across 44 states – the most since 1991 – and nearly 50 separate outbreaks.
The problem has been years in the making, as fewer kids get routine vaccines due to parental waivers, health care access issues, and rampant disinformation. More recently, Trump administration health officials have questioned and sown doubt about the established safety of vaccines at an unprecedented level while also defunding local efforts to improve vaccination rates.
Expert Insights
“The most important thing that we can do is to make sure the people who aren’t vaccinated get vaccinated,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of Brown University’s Pandemic Center. “We have not issued a clear enough message about that.” A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has consistently emphasized vaccines as the best way to prevent measles, adding that the CDC is responding to outbreaks and working to increase vaccination rates.
As of Thursday, the department said it doesn’t have evidence that a single chain of measles has spread for a year. Measles finds the unvaccinated, and there is little room for error in trying to stop measles. The virus is one of the most contagious, infecting 9 out of every 10 unvaccinated people exposed. Community-level protection takes a 95% vaccination rate. The current rate nationally is 92.5%, according to CDC data, but many communities fall far below that.
Measles Outbreaks Across the US
The patient in Texas’ first known case developed the telltale rash on Jan. 20, 2025, according to state health department data. From there, the outbreak exploded. Officially, 762 people fell ill, most of them in rural Gaines County, and two children died. Many more got sick and were never diagnosed: 182 potential measles cases among children in Gaines County went unconfirmed in March 2025 alone, state health officials said, a possible undercount of 44% in that county.
Such data gaps are common, though, making it especially hard to track outbreaks. Many people living in communities where the virus is spreading face health care barriers and distrust the government. Contact tracing so many cases is also expensive, said behavioral scientist Noel Brewer, who chairs the US committee that will finalize the data for international health officials. Research shows a single measles case can cost public health departments tens of thousands of dollars.
Conclusion
CDC data on measles is still among the best worldwide, Brewer said, but “the US has changed its investment in public health, so we’re less able to do the case tracking that we used to do.” Genetic sequencing can fill some gaps. But that’s not always enough to say the outbreaks are connected. Genetically, the measles virus doesn’t change as often as, say, flu.
Scientists have confirmed the same measles strain in Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, South Carolina, Canada, Mexico, and several other North American countries, said Sebastian Oliel, a spokesperson for the Pan American Health Organization, which will make the final decision on US measles elimination at an April 13 meeting. For more information, read the full article Here
Image Source: www.twincities.com
