A measles outbreak has killed a second child in the southwestern United States, authorities there confirmed Sunday, with more than 600 people now infected as the highly contagious disease spreads.
"We are deeply saddened to report that a school-aged child who was recently diagnosed with measles has passed away," Aaron Davis, vice president of UMC Health System, a medical center in Texas, told AFP.
The child had been receiving treatment for the measles in hospital, he said, adding that they were "not vaccinated against measles and had no known underlying health conditions."
As the US grapples with its worst measles outbreak in years, President Donald Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has alarmed health experts with his rhetoric downplaying the importance of vaccines.
Axios reported that Kennedy was planning a hastily arranged visit to Texas after learning of the second child's death.
Texas had reported its first measles death, also of a child, last month.
An adult in New Mexico also died last month of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classified as a measles-related fatality.
The CDC said that as of April 3, "a total of 607 confirmed measles cases were reported by" 21 states stretching from Alaska to Florida, as well as New York City.
The vast majority of them -- 97 percent -- are patients not vaccinated against the measles, it said.
Some 196 of them were under five years old, 240 were aged 5-19, and an additional 159 were aged 20 years or older, with a few others of unknown age, it said.
The CDC, which defines an "outbreak" as three or more related cases, has recorded six outbreaks so far in 2025, it said.
Some 93 percent of the confirmed cases are related to those outbreaks, it said.
"For comparison, 16 outbreaks were reported during 2024 and 69 percent of cases (198 of 285) were outbreak-associated," the agency said on its website.
"This unfortunate event underscores the importance of vaccination," Davis said in an email regarding the child's death in Texas. AFP
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