Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- The CDC is responding to a measles outbreak in Texas, now at 159 cases.
- The outbreak is concentrated in Gaines County, Texas, with a significant unvaccinated population.
- Health officials emphasize vaccination to prevent measles and protect community immunity.
LUBBOCK, Texas — A measles outbreak in Texas has grown to 159 cases, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is now on the ground in that state to respond. The agency posted on the social media platform X that it's partnering with the Texas Department of State Health Services.
"This partnership — known as an Epi-Aid — is a rapid response by CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service to tackle urgent public health issues like disease outbreaks. EIS officers provide local officials onsite support for 1-3 weeks, aiding in quick decision-making to control health threats. The local authority leads the investigation while collaborating with CDC experts," the post said.
Previously, the CDC had provided lab support and measles-mumps-rubella vaccines to Texas to help the outbreak response.
Amelia Salmanson, a preventable disease manager with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, said anyone who is vaccinated has a "very, very low" risk of getting measles.
In an update Tuesday, Texas reported 159 measles cases, including 22 people who are hospitalized. The majority of the cases are in Gaines County, which is home to a large unvaccinated Mennonite population.
Texas announced last week the first death in the outbreak, a school-age child who was not vaccinated and had no underlying health conditions. It was the first measles death in the U.S. since 2015 and the first in a child in the U.S. since 2003.
Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described delivering vitamin A and providing ambulance assistance from Gaines County. He also described treatments with a steroid, budesonide, and an antibiotic, clarithromycin, as well as cod liver oil.
"What we're trying to do is really to restore faith in government and to make sure that we are there to help them with their needs and not particularly to dictate what they ought to be doing," Kennedy said.
Kennedy also referenced vaccines in a portion of the interview aired on Fox Business on Tuesday afternoon, saying, "in highly unvaccinated communities like the Mennonites, it's something we recommend, but we also understand there is a lot of mistrust of the vaccines."
"There are people who should not be vaccinated in the community because they have autoimmune problems or other immune problems. If you do get vaccinated, you are protecting those people from a possible spread."
"The decision to vaccinate is a personal one," he wrote. "Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles but also contribute to community immunity."
