US measles epidemic its worst of 21st century
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A health worker administering a dose of the measles vaccine to a child in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – The United States in 2025 has recorded its worst measles epidemic in more than 30 years, according to a count released on July 7 by Johns Hopkins University, highlighting a crisis that President Donald Trump’s vaccine-sceptic US Health Secretary is accused of fuelling.
The serious and highly contagious disease, once thought eliminated from the country thanks to vaccines, is making a comeback against a backdrop of falling vaccination rates and growing mistrust of health authorities.
A total of 1,277 cases have been confirmed since the beginning of the year in nearly 40 of the 50 US states, with Texas accounting for over 60 per cent of the outbreak, according to Johns Hopkins.
The total US figure is the highest since 1992.
The epidemic has so far claimed three lives – all unvaccinated people – including two young children. According to several experts, the toll has been largely underestimated, as they expressed concern about under-reporting.
The previous measles-related infant death in the US was in 2003, three years after measles had been declared officially eradicated thanks to vaccinations.
The last major outbreak was recorded in 2019 in Orthodox Jewish communities of New York and New Jersey, with 1,274 cases but no deaths.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or simply breathes.
US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr is accused of having exacerbated the health crisis by stoking fears about the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine – a highly effective shot he has falsely claimed is dangerous and contains foetal debris.
The epidemic broke out in late January in a rural area of Texas, where a vaccine-sceptical Mennonite Christian community was hit particularly hard.
The resurgence in 2025 has also seen neighbouring Canada and Mexico experience stronger-than-usual outbreaks.
More than 3,500 cases, including one death, have been recorded in 2025 in Canada, the vast majority in Ontario province.
In Mexico, nearly 2,600 cases and nine deaths have been recorded, according to the Pan-American Health Organisation. AFP
