https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/us/texas-measles-outbreak-death.html

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Unvaccinated Child Dies of Measles in Texas Outbreak

At least 124 cases have been reported since late January, mostly
among children and teenagers who were unvaccinated or whose
vaccination status was unknown.

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A wooden sign with spray-painted lettering that reads "MEASLES
TESTING" with a red arrow stands on a gravel lot next to a roadway.
The South Plains region of Texas, where a measles outbreak has been
spreading, has vaccination rates that lag significantly behind
federal targets.Credit...Sebastian Rocandio/Reuters
Michael LevensonTeddy RosenbluthApoorva Mandavilli

By Michael LevensonTeddy Rosenbluth and Apoorva Mandavilli

Feb. 26, 2025

A child has died of measles in West Texas, the first known death in
an outbreak that is spreading in the region and in neighboring New
Mexico, state health officials said on Wednesday.

The patient was an unvaccinated school-age child, according to
officials in Lubbock, Texas, and the Department of State Health
Services.

The outbreak comes amid growing concerns among public health experts
about declining vaccination rates and the confirmation of Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, as the nation's health
secretary.

At a meeting of cabinet officials at the White House on Wednesday,
Mr. Kennedy downplayed the news, saying that federal health officials
were "watching" the outbreak and noting that there had been others
this year.

"So it's not unusual," he said. He did not mention vaccination or
describe steps the federal government might be taking to help stop
the outbreak.

(Mr. Kennedy also asserted that there had been two deaths in Texas,
although the authorities said there was just one.)

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