Measles outbreak spreads in US
United States is grappling with a significant increase in measles cases
- SACRAMENTO — The
United States is grappling with a significant increase in measles cases, US
health authorities have said.
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- The number of infections in early 2025 has already exceeded
the entire 2024 total, according to the latest data from the US Centres for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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- As of March 28, 2025, the CDC reported 483 confirmed measles
cases across 20 states, among them 2 dead and 70 hospitalised, while only 285
cases were reported in 33 states during the entire year of 2024.
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- Texas is experiencing the most severe outbreak as 400 cases
have been identified since late January, and 41 of the patients have been
hospitalised, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
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- The outbreak has turned deadly.
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- "There has been one fatality in a school-aged child who
lived in the outbreak area. The child was not vaccinated and had no known
underlying conditions," the Texas health authority said in a statement on
March 25.
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- The resurgence has spurred health warnings and urgent
vaccination calls, with most cases nationwide linked to unvaccinated
school-aged children.
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- Declining vaccination rates appeared to be driving the surge
in cases. The CDC reported that kindergarten measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)
vaccine coverage has fallen from 95.2 per cent during the 2019-2020 school year
to 92.7 per cent in 2023-2024, "leaving about 280,000 at risk."
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- "The current outbreak is absolutely being driven and
started by unvaccinated individuals," CNN quoted infectious disease
epidemiologist Michael Mina as saying, Xinhua news agency reported.
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- The New Jersey Department of Health said that "95 per
cent of the cases reported in the United States for 2025 are among children and
individuals who had not received the MMR vaccine or have unknown vaccination
status."
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- "If a measles outbreak continues for a year or more,
the United States could lose its measles elimination status," the CDC
said.
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- The US declared measles eliminated in 2000, meaning there
was no continuous disease transmission within the country.
