(Reuters) -The Texas health department reported 624 cases of measles in the state on Tuesday, an increase of 27 from April 18, as the United States battles one of its worst outbreaks of the childhood disease.
Cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, rose to 386 from 371 reported on Friday, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
Over the course of the outbreak, 64 patients have been hospitalized in Texas, while two unvaccinated children with no underlying health conditions have died of measles in the state.
Nearby New Mexico’s health department reported 65 cases on Tuesday, up by two cases from its last update. Most of the state’s cases are from Lea County, adjacent to Gaines County in Texas.
As of April 17, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reported a nationwide total of 800 measles cases spread across 25 jurisdictions.
Dr. David Sugerman, from the Division of Viral Diseases at the CDC, said last week the agency had deployed 22 personnel to Texas to respond to the outbreak and provide on-site technical assistance from March 4 through April 15.
Sugerman also said the U.S. could be at risk of losing its measles elimination status if the cases in the outbreak continue to spread past January 20, 2026.
Experts have told Reuters the country’s measles response is being hampered by a lack of forceful advocacy for vaccination from government health officials and statements on unproven treatments that are confusing parents.
The national vaccination rate has slipped below the 95% considered necessary to achieve so-called herd immunity, which protects those who cannot be vaccinated.
According to the CDC, 96% of the country’s measles cases were in individuals who either had not been vaccinated or had an unknown status.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Devika Syamnath)
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