Texas Officials Say They'll Likely Never Know Origin of Measles Outbreak

The first case appeared in January. As of March 14, the outbreak had reached 257 cases.

A hospital where measles cases have been treated, in Lubbock, Texas, on Feb. 28, 2025. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

Texas officials say they may never know how the current measles outbreak in the state began.

“Because of the way the highly contagious measles virus spreads, [the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)] does not believe that we will know how the first case in the current outbreak was exposed to the virus,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.

“People infected with measles are contagious 4 days before they have symptoms and can spread it to others before they know they are sick. Measles can also linger in the air for two hours after an infected person leaves the area. Ninety percent of unvaccinated people will get measles if they are exposed to the virus. All of this means that it is entirely possible that the person who exposed the first case in Texas was not even in the same room at the same time as the first case.”

The first cases appeared in Gaines County in January. The person identified as the initial patient had not traveled internationally, and officials have not been able to determine how that person contracted the measles.

A DSHS official told state lawmakers earlier in March that the office did not know the person who introduced measles into the community.

“We don’t know who introduced measles into the community and from what country,” Dr. Jennifer Shuford, commissioner of the agency, told a state House of Representatives committee. “We just don’t know that about this particular outbreak.”

Shuford said outbreaks often happen when a person returns from another country with measles and spreads it to people in his or her community.

When asked about the situation, a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told The Epoch Times in an email that state and local health departments are the leads for investigating measles outbreaks.

The CDC has said it is on the ground in Texas assisting state officials.

As of March 14, the outbreak had reached 257 cases. All but two were listed as unvaccinated or having unknown vaccination status. One child has died.

Officials previously listed five vaccinated cases, but after additional investigation, three of those were removed from that total.

“Two of those cases got their vaccine doses one to two days before their symptoms started after they had been exposed to the virus. It takes the body about 14 days after vaccination to develop immunity to measles, so people aren’t considered vaccinated until that 14-day period has passed,” DSHS said on its website.

The third case was a person who had a reaction to a vaccine. That case has been removed from the case total.

“The measles vaccine can occasionally cause a reaction with a rash and fever that mimic measles, but it is not a measles infection and cannot spread to other people,” officials said.