The Measles Outbreaks Aren’t Going Away Soon, CDC Warns

The surging measles outbreak, which has already sickened hundreds and hospitalized dozens in Texas and New Mexico, will get worse before it gets better. In a recent alert sent to health care providers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that it expects the deadly virus to continue to spread rapidly.

The CDC’s warning was provided in a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory released late last week. As of Tuesday, Texas health officials have documented 223 measles cases in the state, with 29 hospitalized and one dead as a result. Measles has also been reported in other states this year, including New Mexico, New York, Alaska, and Florida.

The Texas measles outbreak has been ongoing since mid-January. It’s largely affected people living in Mennonite communities in rural western Texas, many of whom are unvaccinated. In late February, an unvaccinated “school-aged” child in Texas died from the preventable viral disease—the first such U.S. death reported in a decade. The outbreak has also spread to neighboring regions of New Mexico, with 33 reported cases so far. In early March, New Mexico health officials reported that a recently deceased resident tested positive for measles, though an investigation into this person’s official cause of death is ongoing.

Because measles is highly contagious, it can quickly spread through communities with relatively low vaccination rates. Roughly 94% of a population has to be vaccinated against measles to prevent widespread transmission, a concept known as herd immunity. Very early on into the outbreak, local health officials expressed concerns that hundreds had already been infected, and that tally has likely gotten bigger since. Even a month ago, the outbreak was the largest seen in the state in nearly 30 years.

Measles was locally eliminated in the U.S. 25 years ago, though outbreaks have occasionally appeared in pockets of the country where vaccination rates are low (these outbreaks will usually start when an infected person travels back from a region where the disease is endemic). While the risk for widespread measles in the United States remains low, thanks to high vaccination rates nationwide, the CDC does expect the immediate situation in Texas and New Mexico to worsen. In its advisory, the CDC says the outbreak is continuing “to expand rapidly.”

This year, there have been measles cases reported in 13 states. On Tuesday, Oklahoma health officials reported two cases in the state that appear to be connected to the Texas and New Mexico clusters. The cases seen elsewhere appear to be travel-related, though it is possible that further outbreaks could emerge from them.

Overall, 2025’s total reported tally is well on pace to overtake the 285 measles cases reported nationwide last year. It remains to be seen whether this year will be worse than 2019, which featured widespread and sustained outbreaks in parts of New York that threatened to strip away the country’s official status of having eliminated measles on a local level.

These latest outbreaks have occurred under the watch of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the new head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Though Kennedy has expressed some support for measles vaccination since taking over the HHS, he has a long track record of spreading misinformation about the safety of vaccines, including the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. He has also recently touted scientifically unsupported treatments for measles, such as cod liver oil supplements.

For its part, the CDC clearly states that the MMR vaccine “remains the most important tool for preventing measles.”