The current measles outbreak in the United States shows no signs of slowing down. (Photo credit: Jan Sonnenmeier via Getty Images)
The current measles outbreak in the United States could last for a year, a Texas public health official recently warned.
As of April 4 of this year, there have been approximately 610 cases of measles reported in 22 jurisdictions in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That's more than double the total number of measles cases reported in all of 2024. In addition, additional cases have been reported in various local jurisdictions, but they have not yet been confirmed by the CDC and are not included in the official count.
So far, 12% of CDC-confirmed cases have resulted in hospitalization, and in February, an unvaccinated Texas schoolchild died from the infection, marking the first measles-related death in the U.S. since 2015. Another death has also been reported in New Mexico, again in an unvaccinated person, and that case is under investigation to confirm its connection to the outbreak. In April, a second Texas schoolchild died from complications related to measles, authorities said.
Most of the confirmed cases are linked to six measles outbreaks, including a significant one in West Texas. Of the states reporting measles cases, Texas has seen the most cases this year. In a recent interview, Kathryn Wells, the public health director for Lubbock, Texas, expressed concerns that the state’s current outbreak may be far from over.
“We’re still in the stage where cases are increasing, and as we continue to see the spread and we have increased testing capacity, more people are getting tested,” Wells said at a press conference on March 18, according to STAT News. “I do believe it’s going to take us a year to get this outbreak under control.”
While Wells has outlined a possible time frame for the outbreak, other experts are hesitant to give a precise estimate of when it will end.
“Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict how long the current measles outbreak will last in Texas and surrounding states,” Dr. Charles Prober, a professor of pediatrics and microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, said in an email.
At the moment, the rate of infection shows no signs of slowing down. Why is this happening and how difficult is it to control a measles outbreak of this scale?
Maintaining control
Managing a measles outbreak requires many factors. These include ensuring that as many people as possible are vaccinated against the disease to build herd immunity, and quickly identifying, isolating, and treating new cases to prevent the disease from spreading.
New cases include imported cases, when infected people come to the country from areas where the disease is common; for example, this might happen when someone from the United States vacations in a country where measles is endemic and then returns home.
“As with other infectious diseases, the goal is to quickly detect and isolate cases to prevent further transmission to susceptible individuals,” said Gabriel Benavides, an associate professor of epidemiology at Baylor University in Texas. “This process requires significant human and medical resources, both of which are limited in rural West Texas counties, making them particularly vulnerable,” he added in an email to Live Science.
He also noted that “Gaines County, where the vast majority of current cases have occurred, does not have its own public health department, [while] the South Plains Public Health District, which covers four counties in the region, has not been able to quickly address the scale of this outbreak.” As of April 8, Gaines County had reported 328 cases of measles, while Terry and Lubbock counties, the next highest in cases, are reporting dozens of cases each.
Sourse: www.livescience.com
