Measles Outbreaks Surge Across the U.S. - Texas, New Mexico, and New York

March 08, 2025 — Measles is staging a troubling resurgence across the United States, with significant outbreaks reported in Texas, New Mexico, and New York as of early 2025. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has documented a sharp rise in cases this year, attributing the spread to declining vaccination rates and the persistence of unvaccinated pockets within communities. As of March 6, 2025, the CDC reports a total of 222 confirmed measles cases across 12 jurisdictions nationwide, with Texas and New Mexico bearing the brunt of the largest outbreak and New York City facing its own emerging cases. This article provides the latest updates on these outbreaks and recaps their background stories, drawing from official health reports and media coverage.

Texas: A Record-Breaking Outbreak in the South Plains

Texas is grappling with its most severe measles outbreak in nearly three decades, centered in the rural South Plains region. As of March 7, 2025, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has confirmed 198 cases linked to this outbreak, with an additional four cases reported elsewhere in the state, bringing the total to 202, according to the CDC’s Health Alert Network (HAN) advisory issued on March 7, 2025. The outbreak, which began in late January, has primarily affected Gaines County, where 107 cases have been recorded, followed by Terry County with 22 cases. Other affected counties include Dawson, Yoakum, Lynn, Lubbock, and Ector, with a smattering of cases in Harris, Rockwall, and Travis counties unrelated to the main cluster, per DSHS data updated March 4, 2025.

The majority of cases—80 unvaccinated and 74 with unknown vaccination status—highlight a critical vulnerability: low immunization rates in specific communities. DSHS notes that Gaines County, the epicenter, has a vaccination exemption rate among kindergarteners that has risen from 7.5% in 2013 to nearly 14% in the 2023-24 school year, well below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity. Health officials have identified a “close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community” as a key factor in the outbreak’s spread, with many children attending private religious schools or being homeschooled, where vaccination data is often unreported, according to PBS News on February 22, 2025.

The outbreak has claimed one life—a school-aged child in the South Plains who was unvaccinated and had no underlying conditions, marking the first U.S. measles death since 2015, as reported by DSHS on February 25, 2025, and confirmed by the CDC on February 28, 2025. Hospitalizations have also risen, with 22 patients admitted as of March 4, up from 20 on February 28, per DSHS. The CDC has deployed its Epidemic Intelligence Service rapid response team to assist Texas authorities, signaling the outbreak’s severity, as noted in a CDC statement on March 4, 2025.

New Mexico: A Spreading Threat Across the Border

Neighboring New Mexico is contending with a closely related outbreak, reporting 10 confirmed cases as of March 7, 2025, all concentrated in Lea County, which borders Gaines County, Texas, according to the CDC’s HAN advisory. The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) first declared an outbreak in Lea County in mid-February, suspecting ties to the Texas cases, though definitive links remain unconfirmed, per CIDRAP on February 17, 2025. By February 26, the state had recorded nine cases, with one additional case emerging in the following weeks, as reported by The Washington Post on February 26, 2025.

Most cases involve unvaccinated children, mirroring the Texas pattern. The outbreak has resulted in one death, though specific details about the victim remain limited, per the CDC’s March 7 update. NMDOH has identified exposure risks at multiple locations in Hobbs, including a grocery store, an elementary school, a church, Nor-Lea Hospital, and a Walgreens, prompting urgent vaccination clinics, as noted by PBS News on February 22, 2025. Despite a statewide kindergarten vaccination rate of 95%, pockets of lower coverage in Lea County have fueled the outbreak, exacerbated by its proximity to the Texas hotspot.

New York: Early Signs of Trouble in the City

In New York, the situation is less severe but no less concerning. As of March 2025, New York City has reported two confirmed measles cases, with no additional cases yet identified in the rest of the state, according to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) update accessed on March 8, 2025. These cases follow a national trend of imported infections, often linked to international travel, though specific details about their origins remain undisclosed in the latest reports.

New York’s history with measles provides critical context. In 2019, the state faced its worst outbreak in decades, with 1,274 cases—the highest since 1992—driven by unvaccinated Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County, as documented by the CDC. That outbreak led to a state of emergency and the elimination of religious exemptions for vaccinations in New York, per The New York Times on September 23, 2022. The current cases in New York City, while small in number, raise fears of a repeat scenario, especially given global measles surges in 2024-2025, particularly in Asia, which increase the risk of imported cases, as warned by the CDC on February 28, 2025.

National Context and Response

Nationwide, the CDC reports 222 cases across 12 states as of March 6, 2025, including Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington, alongside Texas, New Mexico, and New York City. Three outbreaks—defined as three or more related cases—account for 93% of these cases (207 of 222), with Texas and New Mexico dominating the tally at 208 combined, per the CDC’s HAN advisory. This contrasts with 2024’s 285 cases across 33 jurisdictions and 16 outbreaks, where 69% were outbreak-associated, indicating a more concentrated spread in 2025.

The CDC and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are providing technical assistance, laboratory support, vaccines, and immunoglobulin to affected states. In Texas, DSHS has issued vaccination recommendations, including early MMR doses for infants as young as 6 months in outbreak areas, while New Mexico hosts free clinics to boost coverage. Nationally, vaccination rates have slipped, with only 92.7% of U.S. kindergarteners vaccinated in 2023-2024, down from 95.2% in 2019-2020, per CDC data cited by CBS News on March 2, 2025—a drop that experts link to rising vaccine hesitancy since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background Recap

• Texas: Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but Texas saw periodic outbreaks, including 59 cases in 2023. The current outbreak’s scale and fatality underscore the impact of vaccine exemptions, particularly in rural, religious communities.

• New Mexico: With no major outbreaks in recent years, New Mexico’s current cases reflect spillover from Texas, highlighting cross-border vulnerabilities despite high overall vaccination rates.

• New York: The 2019 outbreak exposed risks in unvaccinated enclaves, prompting stricter laws. The 2025 cases signal ongoing challenges with imported infections in a globalized world.

As spring travel season looms, health officials urge vigilance and vaccination, warning that measles—once a distant memory—remains a potent threat in under-immunized communities. For now, Texas, New Mexico, and New York stand as stark reminders of the disease’s persistence and the critical role of public health measures in its containment. 17GEN4.com