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The United States has already experienced more cases of measles in the country in the two-and-a-half months of 2025 than it did the entire year of 2024. So far in 2025, more than 300 measles have been reported. There were a total of 285 measles cases recorded in all of 2024.
The measles outbreak began in Texas, which has now recorded 259 cases so far this year. The outbreak has now spread to 15 states (Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Washington), Mexico, Canada, and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Europe, where they have experienced the highest number of measles cases in more than 25 years.
Recently, a North Texas pastor publicly boasted on Instagram about his church school ranking last in the state of Texas for measles vaccination rates. “I just found out that @mercyculturepreparatory is the number one school in Texas for the LEAST amount of ‘vaccinations!’” he stated. “We value our HEALTH & FREEDOM!”
So far, two people in the United States, a school-age child in Texas and a man in New Mexico, both unvaccinated, have died from being infected with measles. Measles had been declared eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, but plummeting vaccination rates have brought it back.
“Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call. Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security. As we shape our new regional health strategy for Europe and central Asia, we cannot afford to lose ground. Every country must step up efforts to reach under-vaccinated communities,” warned Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “The measles virus never rests – and neither can we.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has assured “vaccines readily accessible for all those who want them,” while at the same time promoting unproven measles treatments like cod liver oil and vitamin A.
“I think it’s really important to try to stay away from these ideas of fringe theories or ideas that have not been scientifically proven,” Kirsten Hokeness, director of the school of health and behavioral sciences at Bryant University, told ABC News.
Dr. Carla Garcia Carreno, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children’s Medical Center Plano in Texas, also told ABC News, “High doses of vitamin A can have serious consequences. Neither vitamin A nor cod liver oil will treat measles.”
“We can’t predict who is going to do poorly with measles, being hospitalized, potentially get pneumonia or encephalitis, or potentially pass away from this,” Dr. Ron Cook, chief health officer for the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, warned last week.