Health Secretary Visits Texas After Child Dies of Complications From Measles

The first measles-related death was reported in February involving an unvaccinated school-aged child.

A sign outside of Seminole Hospital District offering measles testing, in Seminole, Texas, on Feb. 21, 2025. Julio Cortez/AP Photo

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Texas on Sunday after the state reported a second measles-related death in a school-aged child who was unvaccinated.

The child, who had no underlying conditions, died of measles pulmonary failure at a local hospital on Thursday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

This marks the second measles death in Texas amid an ongoing outbreak that has infected hundreds across the state. The first was reported in February involving an unvaccinated school-aged child.

Kennedy said he visited Gaines County to console the families of both the 8-year-old and 6-year-old who have died and to learn how federal agencies can better support Texas health officials in controlling the outbreak.

“My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief,” he stated on social media platform X.

There have been 642 confirmed cases of measles across 22 states, with 499 reported in Texas, according to the HHS secretary.

Kennedy said that he deployed a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) team to Texas last month to help bolster the outbreak response across the state, including supplying pharmacies and state-run clinics with measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines and other medical supplies.

“Since that time, the growth rates for new cases and hospitalizations have flattened,” he stated. “The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.”

Kennedy also said that he had spoken with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and offered his continued support.

“At his request, we have redeployed CDC teams to Texas. We will continue to follow Texas’s lead and to offer similar resources to other affected jurisdictions,” he stated.

The Texas Department of State Health Services said that, as of April 4, the state has detected 481 confirmed cases of measles in the outbreak since late January, with 56 patients having been hospitalized. Most of the cases involved children.

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive airborne for up to two hours, and up to nine out of 10 susceptible people will become infected if exposed, according to the CDC.

It is a contagious disease that can cause symptoms such as high fever and rash. A small number of cases lead to death. The measles outbreak has spread to 22 states this year, including Texas, New Mexico, California, Colorado, and Florida.

Last month, an adult in New Mexico who was infected with measles died, with the cause of death still under investigation. The individual, a resident of Lea County, was unvaccinated and did not seek medical care before passing, according to the state health department.

Kennedy, who has long called for increased scrutiny on vaccines’ safety and effectiveness, offered a similar position in a March op-ed as the number of measles cases in the United States rose.

“All parents should consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine,” Kennedy wrote in an editorial published on Fox News on March 2.

“The decision to vaccinate is a personal one. Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”

Kennedy has previously noted that the MMR vaccine doesn’t contain the mercury-based preservative thimerosal that is used in many other vaccines.

The CDC has recommended that children 12 months through 12 years get two doses of the MMR vaccine, which prevents infection from the virus.

The MMR vaccine is typically administered in a two-dose series, with the first dose advised when children turn one year old. The CDC stated that one dose is 94 percent effective and two doses are 97 percent effective. Side effects of the vaccine include fever and nervous system disorders.

Zachary Stieber and Jacob Burg contributed to this report.