A school-aged, unvaccinated child died at a local hospital in West Texas where they had been receiving treatment for measles – marking the second death of a minor in the state linked to the ongoing outbreak.
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Sunday on X that he was in Gaines County, the epicenter of the outbreak, to meet with families in the community. He said he had spoken to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to offer continued support and that teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teams had been sent back to the state. Kennedy noted in his post on X that “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,” and added that the HHS is partnering with Texas health officials to better combat the measles outbreak in the state and has deployed teams from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the area. Source also said that Kennedy planned to attend the child’s funeral on Sunday.
Aaron Davis, vice president of UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, told CNN in a statement: “We are deeply saddened to report that a school-aged child who was recently diagnosed with measles has passed away. The child was receiving treatment for complications of measles while hospitalized. It is important to note that the child was not vaccinated against measles and had no known underlying health conditions.”
Texas’ first measles death linked to the ongoing outbreak was in an unvaccinated school-aged child in February, with another death in New Mexico remaining under investigation. The measles outbreak – now spanning Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and possibly Kansas – reached at least 569 cases Friday, according to data obtained from state health departments.
In Texas, health department data shows that nearly all outbreak-related cases were in unvaccinated people, and 70% were among children and teens. Many of those cases have broken out in West Texas, with Gaines County accounting for nearly 66% of cases. In Lubbock County, which accounts for nearly 7% of the confirmed cases in Texas, UMC Health has started offering drive-up measles screenings at both of its 24/7 urgent care centers.
As of Friday, New Mexico has reported 54 cases, and Oklahoma reported 10 cases (eight confirmed and two probable). Cases in Kansas, which the state health department said may be linked to the outbreak, reached 24 as of Wednesday.
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