California health departments are fighting to contain measles outbreaks as cases rise and resources shrink. Investigating communicable diseases is time-intensive and expensive. Officials say teams have about 72 hours after a positive case to find exposed people and stop spread. Nurses trace contacts, order quarantine, or give post-exposure medicine. They then monitor people for 21 days. Experts say measles spreads fast and hangs in the air for hours. California has high vaccination rates overall, but unvaccinated pockets drive outbreaks. The outbreaks are occurring as local health departments also face major funding cuts and staffing losses.
Measles cases in the U.S. are at their highest in more than three decades. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. has 1,288 cases since the beginning of the year. That's higher than 2019, when there 1,274 cases driven by 22 outbreaks over 12 months. Eighteen states have seen outbreaks this year. Experts fear the U.S. may lose its status as having eliminated measles. There are also large outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable disease in Mexico and Canada.
Public health officials say a day care facility in a Texas county that's part of the measles outbreak has multiple cases, including children too young to be fully vaccinated. West Texas is in the middle of a still-growing measles outbreak with 505 cases as of Tuesday and the state expanding the number of counties in the outbreak area this week to 10. The highly contagious virus began to spread in late January. Three people who were unvaccinated have died from measles-related illnesses this year, including two elementary school-aged children in Texas. Lubbock Public Health director Katherine Wells says day care there had seven cases as of Friday.
Three people have died from measles-related illnesses in the U.S. since the highly contagious virus started ripping through West Texas in late January. The U.S. has more than doubled the total number of measles cases in 2024. Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, Kansas and Oklahoma all have active measles outbreaks. 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. Measles cases also have been reported in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington.
Texas has reached 400 cases of measles in an outbreak that started two months ago. Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, Kansas and Oklahoma all have active measles outbreaks. Two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes. 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. Measles cases also have been reported in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington.
By DEVI SHASTRI and KASTURI PANANJADY AP Health Writers
Measles cases in West Texas are still rising two months after the outbreak began. Local public health officials say they expect the outbreak to last for at least several more months and the case number is likely an undercount. More people have received a measles, mumps and rubella vaccination this year in Texas and New Mexico compared to last year, though officials would like it to be higher. Pharmacies across the U.S., especially in Texas, are seeing more demand for MMR shots. University of North Carolina epidemiologist Justin Lessler says measles has a slow way of spreading that makes it especially hard to contain.
By AMANDA SEITZ and JONEL ALECCIA Associated Press
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to a Steak 'n Shake in Florida this weekend for an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity to endorse the fast-food franchise's new fries. It's the type of recommendation that doctors and pediatricians have implored the new health secretary to make about vaccines. But many of his public statements and interviews have, instead, raised doubts about immunizations. Kennedy's first month in office has been dominated with high-profile resignations, a measles outbreak and — supporters point out — successes with reshaping Americans' diets by pressuring fast-food chains like Steak 'n Shake to cook with beef tallow, instead of cooking oils.
Texas health officials say the number of people with measles has increased to 146 in rural West Texas outbreak that led this week to the death of a school-aged child who was not vaccinated. The Texas Department of State Health Services said Friday that the number of cases in the outbreak had increased by 22 since Tuesday. Health officials said cases span over nine counties and 20 patients have been hospitalized.
