An unvaccinated child has become the first death in a measles outbreak taking hold in west Texas – but Health and Human Services Services Robert Kennedy Jr. downplayed the case, saying measles cases were “not unusual.”
The victim – a “school-aged child who was not vaccinated” — was hospitalized in Lubbock last week, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, and the city of Lubbock confirmed the death Wednesday.
It marks the first measles death in the US since 2015, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
At least 124 people across nine Texas counties have contracted the virus since late January in what local health officials have called the state’s worst measles outbreak in nearly 30 years.
Nine cases have also been confirmed in neighboring eastern New Mexico.
RFK Jr. said HHS was “watching” the outbreak when asked about the child’s death during President Trump’s first cabinet meeting Wednesday, but after saying the outbreak was not a cause for alarm did not elaborate on whether his agency was assisting on the ground.
“We’re watching it. We put out a post on it yesterday, and we’re going to continue to follow,” Kennedy said.
“Incidentally, there have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country, last year there were 16. So it’s not unusual.”
The measles virus affects the human respiratory system, and can survive in the air for up to two hours. While most children recover from the infection, it can also lead to dangerous complications like blindness, brain swelling and pneumonia – and lead to death in severe cases.
It was all but eradicated from the US as of 2000 after a decades-long vaccination campaign, and now only appears in the country when contracted abroad, according to the CDC.
Kindergarteners entering public schools nationwide are required to receive a measles vaccine – but since the COVID-19 pandemic most states’ kindergarten-aged populations have dropped below the 95% vaccination threshold considered vital for stopping measles outbreaks.
The outbreak will prove a first test of beliefs for the newly-appointed Kennedy, whose long-outspoken skepticism of vaccines played a central role in his confirmation hearings.
Despite promising during his hearings that he would not alter the nation’s vaccine schedule, Kennedy last week announced plans for an investigation into exactly that – telling agency employees “nothing is going to be off limits.”
Most of the Texas cases are in children under 18 from the “close-knit, undervaccinated” religious community of Mennonites spread across West Texas, according to officials.
Though the towns are separated by vast stretches of empty land, the outbreak is believed to have spread as members of the community move from town to town for work, church, grocery shopping and basic errands.
One of the worst hit areas is Gaines County, with 80 confirmed cases.
The county also has one of the highest rates of school-aged children opting out of the vaccine in all of Texas, with nearly 14% of K-12 children being unvaccinated last school year.
The CDC said it is providing “technical assistance, laboratory support and vaccines as needed,” but state health departments are leading the response.
“The loss of a child is a tragedy,” a spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said, adding that everybody was praying for “the family, loved ones and the entire Lubbock community.”
“The state will deploy all necessary resources to ensure the safety and health of Texans,” they added.
With Post wires
