Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged the public to get the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine after a second school-aged child died from the virus in Texas, calling it the “most effective” way to prevent the spread of measles.
Kennedy traveled to Gaines County, Texas, on Sunday to attend the funeral of an 8-year-old girl who died from measles. He also met with state health officials and Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) about how his department can continue to support efforts to control the measles outbreak, which has now spread from West Texas to New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
“My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief. I am also here to support Texas health officials and to learn how our HHS agencies can better partner with them to control the measles outbreak, which as of today, there are 642 confirmed cases of measles across 22 states, 499 of those in Texas,” Kennedy posted on X.
He also touted efforts last month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to supply parts of Texas with “needed” MMR vaccines and “other medicines and medical supplies,” which Kennedy said have “flattened” the number of new cases and hospitalizations for measles. Kennedy indicated those CDC teams would be returning to Texas at Abbott’s request.
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Between March 28 and April 4, cases of measles in Texas have risen to 81, with 16 more people hospitalized. Nationwide, the country has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in 2024.
The first measles death in the United States in a decade was in February when an unvaccinated child died from the virus. The second death, announced over the weekend, was from “measles pulmonary failure,” according to the New York Times.
