Texas child dies in measles outbreak, first US fatality in years

HOUSTON - An unvaccinated child in Texas has died of measles, the authorities said on Feb 26, marking the first US fatality from the highly contagious disease in nearly a decade as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr downplayed a growing outbreak.

The death comes as

immunisation rates decline nationwide

, with the latest cases concentrated in a Mennonite religious community that has historically shown vaccine hesitancy.

It arrives at a delicate moment for US public health as Mr Kennedy, who has long spread falsehoods about the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine,

begins his tenure

leading the Department of Health and Human Services.

“The school-aged child who was not vaccinated was hospitalised in Lubbock last week and tested positive for measles,” the state health department said in a statement, with city officials adding that the child died “within the last 24 hours”.

More than 130 measles cases have been reported in west Texas and neighbouring New Mexico in 2025, the vast majority in unvaccinated children.

Around 20 have been hospitalised in Texas, and officials warn the outbreak is likely to grow.

During a meeting of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, Mr Kennedy downplayed the situation, saying: “It’s not unusual. You have measles outbreaks every year.”

He also stated the death toll as two – but neither the Texas nor New Mexico health departments said they knew of any additional fatality.

The confirmed death “should serve as a reminder that there was a reason that the vaccine was developed and that the vaccine is a value to individuals”, infectious disease physician Amesh Adalja from Johns Hopkins University told AFP.

Dr Lara Johnson, chief medical officer at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, where the child was treated, told reporters that when she graduated from medical school in 2002, “I was confident I would never see a measles outbreak unless I chose to work internationally”.

Religious exemptions

The outbreak’s epicentre is Gaines County – home to a large Mennonite community, a Christian sect related to the Amish.

Texas law allows vaccine exemptions for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a 95 per cent vaccination rate to maintain “herd immunity”.

However, coverage among kindergarteners has dropped from 95.2 per cent in the 2019-2020 school year, to 92.7 per cent in 2023-2024, leaving some 280,000 children vulnerable.

The last US measles-related death was in 2015, when a woman in Washington state died of pneumonia caused by the virus.

She had been vaccinated, but was taking immunosuppressive medication. Before that, the previous recorded measles death was in 2003.

Measles is an extremely contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or simply breathes.

Known for its characteristic rash, it poses a serious risk to unvaccinated individuals, including infants under 12 months who are not ordinarily eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems.

During outbreaks, about one in five infected individuals requires hospitalisation, and one in 20 develops pneumonia.

In rare cases, measles leads to brain swelling and can be fatal.

The good news is vaccination is exceedingly effective in conferring lifetime immunity – with one dose estimated to be 93 per cent effective, and two doses 97 per cent.

Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, it is thought that millions of Americans contracted the disease annually, and several hundred died.

Although measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, outbreaks continue to occur each year. Globally, the virus remains a leading cause of preventable deaths.

The US reported 285 measles cases in 2023, according to the CDC.

The largest recent outbreak occurred in 2019, with 1,274 cases – primarily within Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey – marking the highest national total in decades.

Mr Kennedy has repeatedly and falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism, a claim thoroughly debunked by scientific research.

In one of his first actions as health secretary, the federal health department postponed a routine meeting of an independent advisory panel that makes vaccine recommendations to the CDC. AFP