Sharjah24 - WAM: U.S. measles cases topped 700 as of Friday, capping a week in which Indiana joined five others states with active outbreaks, Texas grew by another 60 cases and a third measles-related death was made public, the AP reported Saturday.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed in a televised Cabinet meeting Thursday that measles cases were plateauing nationally, but the virus continues to spread mostly in people who are unvaccinated and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention redeployed a team to West Texas.
The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024, and Texas is reporting the majority of them with 541.
Texas’ cases include two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children who died from measles-related illnesses near the epicenter of the outbreak in rural West Texas, which led Kennedy to visit the community Sunday. The third person who died was an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated.
Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include New Mexico, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio and Oklahoma.
Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.
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