United States: Texas faced a new wave of measles infections which health officials reported on Tuesday.
According to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services 24 instances of the disease emerged during two weeks throughout Gaines County leading up to Tuesday.
Health authorities identified cases only within unvaccinated people living in the northwestern Texas area while 22 of those cases belong to children. Hospital authorities have admitted nine patients throughout the outbreak period, as reported by USA Today.
“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities,” the state agency said in the Tuesday update.
Spread Beyond Gaines County
According to a social media post by the Brownfield Independent School District, the DSHS confirmed measles cases in Terry County to the district on Tuesday, adding that “it is likely to continue to spread.” Last week, one incidence of the illness was reported in Lynn County.
Vaccination Gaps Fueling the Outbreak
On Tuesday, the New Mexico Department of Health said that an unvaccinated teen in Lea County, which borders Gaines County, had contracted measles.
Dr. Miranda Durham highlighted the need for updated vaccines because people who are not complete with measles vaccinations are especially at risk per her statement in the announcement.
The number of measles infections increases because vaccine administration rates are decreasing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the United States declared elimination of Measles in 2000.
The decrease in vaccine coverage lead to an opposite effect by allowing measles to regain its presence. The CDC documented 285 measles cases throughout 33 US states in 2024 together with 89% of patients identified as unvaccinated or lacking vaccine information.
The CDC reported from February 6th that they had detected 14 cases of measles in 2025.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2024 indicated that the entire childhood vaccine program coverage in enrolled kindergartners dropped below 93% while measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination reached 92.7% coverage, as reported by USA Today.
What are the symptoms?
According to the CDC, symptoms of the extremely contagious disease measles can appear 7–14 days after viral contact.
Initial signs and symptoms could include:
elevated fever that could reach beyond 104 degrees
Coughing
A runny nose
Watery, red eyes
Two to three days after the onset of symptoms, an infected individual may start to have small white lumps in their mouth, and three to five days after the onset of symptoms, a rash may start to spread.