A measles outbreak in Texas is the latest sign of the disease’s resurgence, with over two dozen cases reported in the past two weeks. Public health experts warn that the highly contagious disease is preventable and linked to low vaccination rates.
The part of Texas affected by the outbreak has a low vaccination rate and high school vaccine exemption rates, according to CBS News. “This was completely preventable,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that 95% of people get two doses of the MMR vaccine to prevent measles outbreaks.
Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, but health advocates worry that declining vaccination rates are allowing the disease to make a comeback. In 2024, there were 16 outbreaks and 285 measles cases reported across 33 states, with 40% of those cases hospitalized. The CDC data also shows a decline in vaccination coverage among US kindergartners from 95.2% in 2019-2020 to 92.7% in 2023-2024.
This trend is not unique to Texas, as four other states – Alaska, Georgia, New York, and Rhode Island – have also reported cases this year. The majority of those cases are believed to have been among the unvaccinated or individuals with unknown vaccine statuses.
Source: https://www.axios.com/2025/02/13/texas-measles-outbreak-fans-fears-of-wider-rebound