A school-age child has died from measles in west Texas. The death of the child, who was not vaccinated for measles, was confirmed by state and local health officials and comes after weeks of a growing outbreak that spans Texas and New Mexico.
It's the first reported U.S. death from the illness since 2015.
More than 130 people have been sickened with measles in the two states, most of them children under the age of 18.
The outbreak started in Gaines County in west Texas, which has a population of about 23,000. It has been home to a community of Mennonite ranchers since 1977 according to the Seminole, Texas chamber of commerce.
Measles is a very contagious respiratory disease that was declared to be eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 due to high rates of inoculation with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, known as the MMR shot.
Before vaccination became widely available in 1963, an estimated 400-500 people died from measles each year and 48,000 were hospitalized.
In the last five years or so, U.S. average school vaccination rates have fallen below 95% — which is the CDC's recommended level for preventing outbreaks.
The vaccination rate is far lower in some places, including Gaines County where the rate has dropped to just under 82%.
"During the time before vaccination, measles has a mortality of around 5% and in impoverished areas maybe 20% to 30%," says Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, who heads up the infectious diseases division at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "So this is an entirely preventable death. That's the tragedy of it."
He says it's important that the public knows that "when we don't have widespread vaccination, we risk these epidemics and that unfortunately, epidemics will eventually result in deaths."
U.S. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was asked about the death at a meeting of President Trump's cabinet Wednesday. He noted that the outbreak is spreading among a Mennonite community and said, "we're watching it." He also said "it's not unusual" and noted there are measles outbreaks every year in the U.S.
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