More than 1,000 cases of a fast-spreading viral outbreak have been reported across 11 US states, with Texas at the center. Two unvaccinated children have died, and new infections continue to emerge.
United States: Eight more cases of measles have been confirmed in Texas since Friday, the Texas Department of State Health says.
Three new cases were reported in Erath, Collin, and Rockwall counties as well.
Texas DSHS stated that fewer than 1% or fewer than 10 confirmed cases are believed to be actively infectious because their rash onset date was less than a week ago.
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Human beings are infectious for four days before and four days after the outbreak of the rash. Ninety-three patients were hospitalised during the current outbreak.
So far, two deaths have occurred among school-aged children in the outbreak area, nbcdfw.com reported.
Measles cases are rising across the US, with 800 reported cases, mostly in Texas, and three confirmed in Colorado. @DrHigginsMD shares how we can prevent a larger outbreak in CO with increased vaccination rates. ▶️ https://t.co/liIJRDgN00 @ACCORDSResearch pic.twitter.com/Jwv5ooUmYb
— CCTSI (@CCTSI) May 14, 2025
The children were not vaccinated, and they did not have underlying illnesses. Five other cases of the virus have been confirmed outside the West Texas breakout – one each in Collin, Denton, and Rockwall counties and two cases in Tarrant County.
The state Health Department confirmed cases extend a short streak of narrowing increases in a state that has been suffering a massive outbreak for almost four months.
The US hit more than 1,000 measles cases on Friday, with Texas still accounting for the overwhelming majority of cases in the outbreak, which also spread measles all the way to New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
Two measles-related illnesses-plagued unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died in the epicenter in West Texas, and an unvaccinated adult died in New Mexico due to measles-related illnesses.
Other states that have ongoing outbreaks, which according to the CDC refer to three or more cases related to one another, are Michigan, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, and Tennessee, nbcdfw.com reported.
North America has two other continuous outbreaks of measles, which are of the same strain.
There was an outbreak in Ontario, Canada, which accounts for 1,440 cases since mid-October to May 6th, a number that is 197 cases more than the preceding week.