LUBBOCK, Texas — A child who was not vaccinated has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month and the first from measles in the U.S. since 2015.
The death was a “school-aged child who was not vaccinated” and had been hospitalized last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Wednesday in a statement. Lubbock health officials also confirmed the death, but neither agency provided more details. Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 124 cases across nine counties, which state health officials have said is Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. There are also nine cases in eastern New Mexico.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the department is “watching” the cases, which he described as “not unusual” during a Wednesday meeting of President Trump’s cabinet members. Kennedy, a vaccine critic, did not provide specifics on how the federal government is assisting.
“We’re following the measles epidemic every day,” he said.
The CDC is providing “technical assistance, laboratory support, and vaccines as needed” to West Texas, the agency told the AP, but the state health department is taking the lead in the outbreak investigation. The agency has said it will only provide weekly updates on the measles outbreak, and has not yet updated its public webpage to reflect the child’s death.
“The loss of a child is a tragedy,” and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and his wife are praying for “the family, loved ones, and the entire Lubbock community,” Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris said. He added that the governor’s office is in “regular communication” with the state health department, that epidemiologists and vaccination teams are in the “affected area,” and that there are “daily situation updates and coordination calls” with local health officials.
“The state will deploy all necessary resources to ensure the safety and health of Texans,” Mahaleris said.
Vaccination rates across the U.S. have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks. Measles cases were the worst in almost three decades in 2019, and there was a rise in cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60.
The current outbreak is largely spreading in the Mennonite community in West Texas, where small towns are separated by vast stretches of oil rig-dotted open land but connected due to people traveling between towns for work, church, grocery shopping, and other errands.
Texas health department data show the vast majority of cases in the area are among people younger than 18. The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine — which is safe and highly effective at preventing infection and severe cases — is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old for the first shot, with the second coming between 4 and 6 years old.
The vaccine series is required for kids before entering kindergarten in public schools nationwide.
The cases in West Texas have been concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community, state health department spokesperson Lara Anton has said, especially among families who attend small private religious schools or are homeschooled. Gaines County, which has 80 cases, has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine, including nearly 14% of K-12 children in the 2023-2024 school year.
Earlier this month, Kennedy said a panel would investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles and other dangerous diseases.
Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to 2 hours. Up to nine out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the CDC. Most kids will recover from the measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling, and death.
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