Measles outbreak surpasses 1,000 confirmed cases in the US

The measles outbreak in the United States has surpassed 1,000 confirmed cases, with three deaths recorded so far, according to an assessment carried out by AFP based on public data released this Friday 9.

The outbreak emerged in late January in a rural area of ​​Texas (south), home to a Mennonite religious community, an ultraconservative population and under-vaccinated . AFP has recorded at least 1,005 cases since the start of the year, 70% of them in Texas. Three people have died, including two young children, in the southwest of the country, the epicenter of the epidemic.

The last childhood death related to measles was in 2003, three years after the disease was officially declared eradicated thanks to immunization.

The current outbreak is reminiscent of the 2019 epidemic, which had more than 1,200 cases but no deaths, declared in the Orthodox Jewish communities of New York and New Jersey.

The measles vaccine is mandatory in the United States, but American citizens in several states, including Texas, the second most populous in the country, can request an exemption for religious or other reasons.

The use of these exemptions has increased in recent years, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, due to growing distrust of health authorities and pharmaceutical companies.

"The situation is out of control," US pediatric infectious disease specialist Paul Offit told AFP , referring to the current measles outbreak, which he described as the worst in the country in "probably 30 years."

Experts blame US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. for contributing to the outbreak by stoking fears about vaccines.

Measles causes fever, respiratory symptoms and skin rashes, and in some cases causes more serious complications, such as pneumonia and inflammation of the brain, which can lead to serious consequences and even death.