Unvaccinated child dies in measles outbreak

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP):

A child who was not vaccinated has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month and the first from measles in the US since 2015.

The death was a “school-age child who was not vaccinated” and had been hospitalised last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services said on Wednesday in a statement. Lubbock health officials also confirmed the death, but neither agency provided more details.

The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 124 cases across nine counties, which state health officials have said is Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. There are also nine cases in eastern New Mexico.

“The loss of a child is a tragedy” and Governor Greg Abbott and his wife are praying for “the family, loved ones and the entire Lubbock community”, Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris said.

“The state will deploy all necessary resources to ensure the safety and health of Texans,” Mahaleris said.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that this is the first measles death in the country since 2015. Measles cases were the worst in almost three decades in 2019, and there was a rise in cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60.

The outbreak is largely spreading in the Mennonite community in West Texas, where small towns are separated by vast stretches of oil rig-dotted open land but connected due to people travelling between towns for work, church, grocery shopping and other errands.

Texas health department data shows that the vast majority of cases in the area are among people younger than 18. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine – which is safe and highly effective at preventing infection and severe cases –is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old for the first shot, with the second coming between four and six years old.

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to nine out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most kids will recover from the measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling, and death.