Second potential death from measles outbreak after unvaccinated New Mexico resident dies
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A second person may have died as result of the measles outbreak that’s been spreading from Texas to the rest of the U.S., according to New Mexico public health officials.
A deceased resident of Lea County, which borders Gaines County, Texas, the center of the outbreak, tested positive for measles, the New Mexico Department of Health announced on Thursday.
The individual was unvaccinated, and their official cause of death is still being investigated. They did not seek medical care before they died, officials said.
Experts urged individuals to get vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella, sayin
“We don’t want to see New Mexicans getting sick or dying from measles,” Dr. Chad Smelser, New Mexico’s deputy state epidemiologist, said in a statement. “The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best protection against this serious disease.”
If measles is confirmed to have caused the death, it will mark the second fatality in the outbreak.
More than 160 measles cases have been reported across Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Rhode Island, and Texas, according to the CDC, 95 percent of which involved people who were unvaccinated or of unknown vaccine status.
Prior to the present outbreak, there hadn’t been a measles death in the U.S. in a decade.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine activist before joining the administration, has faced scrutiny for his handling of the outbreak.
He initially downplayed the epidemic, saying at a cabinet meeting it was fairly routine.
“We are following the measles epidemic every day,” Kennedy said during the meeting. “Incidentally, there have been four measles outbreaks this year. In this country last year there were 16. So, it’s not unusual. We have measles outbreaks every year.”
Kennedy later described the outbreak as a top priority, though he reportedly angered staff by sharing a photo of himself hiking in the mountains above Coachella, California, over the weekend, at a time when health authorities are battling a shocking outbreak of a disease that was considered eliminated from the U.S. in the year 2000.
“It’s a serious role, he’s just a couple of weeks in and measles is not a common occurrence, and it should be all hands on deck,” a former Trump official told Politico. “When you’re taking a selfie out at Coachella, it’s pretty clear that you’re checked out.”
Others were alarmed that Kennedy hasn’t done enough to promote vaccines against the measles.
This week, during his first national television interview about the outbreak, Kennedy spent much of his time praising the benefits of supplements like cod liver oil in treating the measles.
One of his advisers, Brett Giroir, took to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday after Kennedy touted the impact of vitamins in a Fox op-ed.
“Please do not rely on #VitaminA to save your child in the US – helps in Africa where there is deficiency – not here,” he wrote. “I have both treated and buried children with measles.”
Elsewhere, Kennedy has reinforced the importance of the measles vaccine, though he has refrained from urging people to get the vaccine, instead emphasizing it’s a “personal” choice.
“Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” he wrote in an article on Monday.
Kennedy has directed the CDC and Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to offer technical assistance, laboratory support, vaccines, and therapeutic medications as needed in hard-hit states like Texas.
