A fast-growing measles outbreak has infected dozens in Texas and New Mexico as officials suspect the highly contagious disease continues to spread.
In just two weeks, an outbreak in northwest Texas jumped from two cases among unvaccinated children in Gaines County to 48 people across four counties, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. All cases are among people, mostly children, who weren’t vaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. More than a dozen people have been hospitalized for measles as of Friday.
Texas officials warned cases are likely to increase.
On Friday, New Mexico officials declared an outbreak in Lea County, just across state lines from Texas’ Gaines County. Two adults tested positive for measles, with three total cases this week. The first case, an unvaccinated teenager in Lea County, had no recent travel history and no known exposure to the Texas cases, raising alarms about measles spreading undetected.
While officials believe there’s a connection to the Texas outbreak, it’s still unconfirmed.
“We are investigating every suspected case, and we encourage sick individuals with symptoms consistent with measles to seek medical care,” Dr. Chad Smelser, deputy state epidemiologist for New Mexico’s health department, said in a statement.
New Mexico officials are notifying people possibly exposed to measles. Areas where people could have been exposed include an elementary school, two grocery stores, a church, a pharmacy and a hospital.
Is the measles vaccine effective?
Officials in both Texas and New Mexico have urged people to get vaccinated.
The two-dose measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is safe and highly effective at preventing illness. The full vaccine series is 97% effective against measles, but even one shot provides 93% effectiveness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Measles had been declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, the CDC said. But as MMR vaccination rates have decreased, measles has surged back.
In 2024, 33 states reported 285 measles cases, and 89% of cases were among people who weren’t vaccinated or had no known vaccination status, the CDC said. About 40% of cases resulted in hospitalization.
As of Feb. 7, the CDC reported 14 cases of measles in 2025. The agency said updates are posted monthly.
In 2024, CDC reported coverage for all vaccines in children enrolled in kindergarten fell below 93%, with uptake of the vaccine at 92.7%, below the 95% threshold health experts say is needed to prevent outbreaks.
What are measles symptoms?
Symptoms can begin 7 to 14 days after exposure to measles virus, according to the CDC. It can cause severe complications and death in rare cases.
Symptoms can include:
High fever;Cough;Runny nose;Red, watery eyes.
Small white bumps can begin to appear in a person’s mouth two to three days after symptom onset. A rash may begin to spread three to five days after symptom onset.
How does measles spread?
Measles virus spreads when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks and another person inhales droplets, Mayo Clinic said. People can also get infected by touching a surface with virus and then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
Measles stays in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours after a sick person leaves a room. It can spread before someone knows they are sick. People can spread it for about eight days − four days before a rash appears and four days while they have a rash, according to the Mayo Clinic.
How serious is measles?
About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who get measles end up hospitalized, the CDC said. One in 20 children who get it end up with pneumonia, the most common cause of death in infected children.
Encephalitis, or brain swelling, occurs in 1 in 1,000 children who contracts measles, the CDC said. This can lead to deafness, convulsions or intellectual disabilities.
Between 1 and 3 of every 1,000 children who get measles die from respiratory or neurologic complications. Unvaccinated women who are pregnant can have babies born prematurely or low birthweight, which can cause long-term issues for a child’s development.
