The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that confirmed measles cases in the United States have now climbed to 935, marking a dramatic surge compared to the total for all of 2024, which ended with 285 confirmed cases.
This new tally, released in the CDC’s update on Friday, is based solely on lab-confirmed diagnoses and does not account for “probable” cases, which means the actual number of infections could be even higher. The CDC noted that 96% of individuals with confirmed cases were either not vaccinated or had an unclear vaccination history.
Texas continues to experience the most significant outbreak nationwide, with 683 confirmed infections, according to the state’s health department. Most of those cases were detected in Gaines County, near the border with New Mexico. Approximately 450 of the Texas cases were among minors, and state officials reported that two school-age children have died due to complications from the disease.
Next to Texas, New Mexico has seen the highest number of confirmed cases, with 67 reported. One person from Lea County, which borders Texas, tested positive for measles posthumously earlier in the year.
According to the CDC’s update, residents in 29 states have now been affected by the outbreak. These states include Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
Health experts have attributed the resurgence of measles to falling immunization rates, which have left more people vulnerable to infection.
“Measles used to kill, you know, so many children, and we’re starting to see outbreaks again because parents are not getting their kids vaccinated,” Dr. Dale Bratzler, dean of the University of Oklahoma’s Hudson College of Public Health, told Nexstar’s KFOR.
Amesh Adalja, an expert from Johns Hopkins University, pointed out to Agence France-Presse that areas like Gaines County in Texas have some of the “lowest rates of vaccination in the state,” describing it as “kindling for such outbreaks.”
The World Health Organization has long warned that vaccine coverage must remain above 95% to maintain herd immunity and prevent the spread of measles.
“When the population rate of vaccination starts to fall below 95%, you’re going to have outbreaks,” said Dr. Bratzler.
The CDC’s measles information page highlights a concerning trend: immunization rates among kindergartners have dropped from 95.2% before the 2019 school year to just 92.7% before the 2023 school year.
During a press briefing last month, Dr. William Moss, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, warned that measles is likely to persist in communities that lack sufficient vaccination coverage.
“I like to think of this like a forest fire with sparks spreading out,” Moss said. “If those sparks land in a community with low vaccine coverage, we’re going to see a larger measles outbreak. If it lands in a community with high vaccine coverage, we may only see one or a few cases.”
{Matzav.com}