www.nbcnews.com/health/rcna192163
SEMINOLE, Texas — When Aganetha Unger pulled up her large, white van to the emergency measles testing site, several of her eight children were coughing.
“We had some sickness in the house, not very bad, but some fever, some cough,” said Unger, who is Mennonite. One child, she said, had a fever of 103 degrees <www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/measles-symptoms-severity-treatment-rcna140532> .
Her youngest getting tested was a 2-month-old, wrapped tightly in a pink blanket on her mom’s lap. When the EMS team swabbed her nose, she didn’t cry.
It was Thursday, eight days after the Texas Department of State Health Services first reported a measles outbreak <www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/health-alert-measles-outbreak-gaines-county-texas> on the rural, western edge of the state.
On Friday, the number of confirmed cases rose to 49, up from 24 earlier in the week, the state health department <www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/measles-outbreak-feb-14-2025> said. The majority of those cases are in Gaines County, which borders New Mexico.
Most cases are in school-age kids, and 13 have been hospitalized. All are unvaccinated against measles <www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/measles-cases-rose-10-million-2023-cdc-say-rcna180165>, which is one of the most contagious viruses in the world.
The latest measles case count likely represents a fraction of the true number of infections. Health officials — who are scrambling to get a handle on the vaccine-preventable outbreak — suspect 200 to 300 people in West Texas are infected but untested, and therefore not part of the state’s official tally so far.
The fast-moving outbreak comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, has long sown distrust about childhood vaccines <www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/rfk-jr-tries-distance-anti-vaccine-movement-rcna189858>, and in particular, the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine <www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/autism-community-fears-rfk-jr-progress-rcna188885>, falsely linking it to autism <www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/autism-vaccines-kennedy-cause-spectrum-rcna180837> .
During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy said he was not anti-vaccine. “I am pro-safety,” he said. “All of my kids are vaccinated, and I believe vaccines have a critical role in health care.”
SEMINOLE, Texas — When Aganetha Unger pulled up her large, white van to the emergency measles testing site, several of her eight children were coughing.
“We had some sickness in the house, not very bad, but some fever, some cough,” said Unger, who is Mennonite. One child, she said, had a fever of 103 degrees <www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/measles-symptoms-severity-treatment-rcna140532> .
Her youngest getting tested was a 2-month-old, wrapped tightly in a pink blanket on her mom’s lap. When the EMS team swabbed her nose, she didn’t cry.
It was Thursday, eight days after the Texas Department of State Health Services first reported a measles outbreak <www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/health-alert-measles-outbreak-gaines-county-texas> on the rural, western edge of the state.
On Friday, the number of confirmed cases rose to 49, up from 24 earlier in the week, the state health department <www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/measles-outbreak-feb-14-2025> said. The majority of those cases are in Gaines County, which borders New Mexico.
Most cases are in school-age kids, and 13 have been hospitalized. All are unvaccinated against measles <www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/measles-cases-rose-10-million-2023-cdc-say-rcna180165>, which is one of the most contagious viruses in the world.
The latest measles case count likely represents a fraction of the true number of infections. Health officials — who are scrambling to get a handle on the vaccine-preventable outbreak — suspect 200 to 300 people in West Texas are infected but untested, and therefore not part of the state’s official tally so far.
The fast-moving outbreak comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, has long sown distrust about childhood vaccines <www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/rfk-jr-tries-distance-anti-vaccine-movement-rcna189858>, and in particular, the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine <www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/autism-community-fears-rfk-jr-progress-rcna188885>, falsely linking it to autism <www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/autism-vaccines-kennedy-cause-spectrum-rcna180837> .
During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy said he was not anti-vaccine. “I am pro-safety,” he said. “All of my kids are vaccinated, and I believe vaccines have a critical role in health care.”