Prime Highlights
- A vaccinated woman from Texas contracted measles, causing a nationwide alarm of an extensive outbreak.
- Almost 800 cases and child deaths have prompted travel alerts from the CDC and heightened warnings.
Key Facts
- The infected woman was contagious for over a week and had traveled to multiple public locations in Dallas and Plano.
- More than 740 cases of measles have occurred this year in Texas alone, with two fatalities among children.
- Measles has already affected at least 34 U.S. states and triggered emergency vaccination campaigns and CDC alerts.
Key Background
Measles, also referred to as the world’s most contagious disease, came back as a severe threat to public health in the United States, or at least Texas. The latest alert followed a woman in her mid-20s, who was vaccinated, reporting positive for measles in Dallas County. She had received the measles vaccine and yet contracted it and was contagious between May 30 and June 7. During that time, she had visited several public areas, where she infected hundreds of people with the virus.
Long believed to have been eradicated in the United States in 2000, measles is making a resurgence with declining vaccination rates. Texas, especially its religious and rural communities like the Mennonites, has recorded a sharp spike in exemptions from routine child immunization. These types of communities have exemption levels as high as 14%, much below the 95% level needed for herd immunity.
Measles is caused by a virus spread through the air after a person who has it coughs or sneezes. It remains in the air for as long as two hours and infects anywhere from 90% of those who have not been vaccinated and have been exposed. Early on, symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and rash. In severe cases, especially in kids, it results in pneumonia, brain injury, blindness, or death.
As of early June 2025, over 1,100 have been reported across 34 U.S. states. Texas alone has reported around 744 of them, including two reported child fatalities. Red-level alerts were issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, particularly warning travelers in public spaces like airports to be cautious.
Though the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine is 97% effective with two doses, there is no vaccine that is completely foolproof. Public health officials are therefore calling on all unvaccinated people to be vaccinated at once. Texas officials are also operating mobile vaccination centers and quarantining exposed persons.
This measles outbreak serves as a stark reminder of the price of vaccine denial and ensuring the maintenance of high immunization levels in order to ensure community health.
