A New Mexico adult infected with measles has died, state officials said Thursday.
The death comes eight days after an unvaccinated child in Texas died from the disease during a growing outbreak in the state that has infected nearly 160 people.
The adult was not vaccinated and didn’t seek medical help before dying, although the cause of death is still under investigation.
The victim lived just across the state line from the west Texas region where the outbreak is centered.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MEASLES OUTBREAK
Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium Feb. 27, 2025, in Seminole, Texas. Eighty cases of measles have been reported in Gaines County with one death reported. (Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
“We don’t want to see New Mexicans getting sick or dying from measles,” Dr. Chad Smelser, deputy state epidemiologist, said. “The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is the best protection against this serious disease.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this week it would send a team to help respond to the outbreak in Texas.
The adult is the 10th person in Lea County, New Mexico, confirmed to have contracted measles.
A member of the medical staff administers a dose of the measles vaccine to a child at a health center in Lubbock, Texas, Feb. 27, 2025. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty)
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News this week he recommended measles vaccines for community immunity during the outbreak, but he also continues to advocate for personal choice.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: MEASLES OUTBREAK IS A CALL TO ACTION FOR ALL OF US
“We’re going to do what’s right for the American people,” Kennedy told Marc Siegel, Fox News’ senior medical analyst. “We’re going to be honest with the American people for the first time in history about all the tests, about all the studies, what we know, what we don’t know, and that’s going to anger some people who want an ideological approach to public health.”
The Texas Department of State Health Services said the majority of those infected are unvaccinated children.
One year-old River Jacobs is held by his mother, Caitlin Fuller, while he receives an MMR vaccine from Raynard Covarrubio at a vaccine clinic by the Lubbock Public Health Department March 1, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
The outbreak began in late January.
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The CDC recommends “all children get two doses of MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine,” according to its website, adding that adults who don’t have “presumptive evidence of immunity should get at least one dose of MMR vaccine.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
