A rapidly spreading outbreak of measles in Texas has killed two people, US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr, said on Wednesday.
They are the first mortalities from measles in the US in nearly a decade.
One of those victims was an unvaccinated child who died in a Texas hospital after testing positive for measles, according to the state’s health department.
Secretary Kennedy, who was speaking at the first cabinet meeting for President Donald Trump’s current term, did not give any information on the other victim and the BBC was not able to confirm the death.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported on Tuesday that it was aware of 124 cases diagnosed since the outbreak began in early January, up from 90 cases on Friday. Almost all cases – 101 – were in patients 17 and younger.
The US declared measles “eliminated” in 2000, but the country has seen outbreaks in recent years amid a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment. The last US measles death was in 2015, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
The current outbreak is centred in north-western Texas, with measles also recently found across the state’s border in New Mexico, as well as Alaska, California, Georgia, New Jersey, New York City and Rhode Island, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Currently, there are nine cases reported in New Mexico, four of whom are children.
Kennedy, a past vaccine sceptic, said that measles outbreaks are common and there have been four measles outbreaks so far in the US this year. The CDC defines an outbreak as three or more related cases.
He also said his department is monitoring the current outbreak closely.
A measles infection can have particularly devastating complications for pregnant women and young children, including pneumonia, neurological impairment, hearing loss and death.
Survivors are at risk of developing a degenerative brain and nervous system disease known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE).
There were 285 cases of measles reported in the US for all of last year, the highest number since 1,274 in 2019.
So far, 18 people in the current outbreak have had to go to hospital, according to the Texas health department. Kennedy said altogether 20 people are in hospital to quarantine.
Five people in Texas who were infected had been vaccinated, the department also said.
New Mexico’s congressional delegation has pushed Kennedy to urgently address the current outbreak, urging him in a letter on Monday to “launch a vaccination promotion campaign” and rehire recently fired federal health workers, among other measures.
“Just last Friday, two dozen employees at the CDC charged with training public laboratory staffers and supporting outbreak response efforts were fired,” the state’s two Senators and three House members, all Democrats, wrote. “Those firings will worsen outbreaks and ultimately threaten the health of all Americans in the face of the next public health emergency.”
Meanwhile, areas affected by the outbreak are hosting free vaccination clinics, with the city of Lubbock, where the child victim died, holding hours-long clinics each day this week.
The Texas outbreak is believed to have started in a rural Mennonite community with low vaccination rates, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, and local media.
Most US children receive two immunization shots to protect against the illness, which together are 97% effective in protecting against measles, according to the CDC.
Vaccination rates in Texas are 94.3%, according to the CDC, which is below the 95% level that the Infectious Diseases Society of America says is needed to also protect those who are not immunized, commonly called “herd immunity”.
“Measles was rare in the United States, but outbreaks are occurring in areas where vaccination rates have fallen,” the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement. “Most children who get measles are not up to date on recommended vaccines or are not old enough to get measles vaccine.”
