How a West Texas Outbreak Threatens Measles Elimination Status

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

Measles was technically “eliminated” in the U.S. in 2000 thanks to high measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates. While prior outbreaks have made headlines, a slew of cases in West Texas is more than just newsworthy—it could cause the U.S. to lose elimination status. Associate health and medicine editor Lauren Young explains what elimination means, why measles cases are rising and how to prevent further transmission. Recommended reading: Measles Was ‘Eliminated’ in the U.S. in 2000. The Current Outbreak May Change That Five Reasons Measles Outbreaks Are Worse Than You Think—And Why Vaccination Matters How to Check If You’re Immune to Measles Tell us what you think! Take our survey for the chance to win some SciAm swag! http://sciencequickly.com/survey E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Lauren Young. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:59.0	More than 1,000 cases of measles have been confirmed in the U.S. since late January, including a cluster in West Texas that has caused one of the worst outbreaks in recent memory.
1:04.0	These outbreaks are occurring even though measles was technically eliminated in the U.S. back in 2000. Here to explain what that means
1:12.6	and why that status could be at risk is Lauren Young, Associate Editor for Health and Medicine
1:17.6	at Scientific American. Lauren, thanks so much for coming on to chat with us today.
1:22.6	No, thank you for having me. So to refresh our listeners' memories, could you give us a brief
1:27.3	overview of the current
1:29.0	measles outbreaks of concern? Sure. So the situation continues to worsen in the U.S.
1:34.5	Measles cases are continuing to rise. The current case count as of May 1st of the CDC's reports
1:40.8	says 935 confirmed cases, which is growing at a pretty alarming rate. The
1:46.1	initial outbreak began in West Texas, and now it's in 29 states, and we're also seeing
1:50.6	cases and outbreak spread in Mexico and Canada. So it's important to note, too, that nearly 70%
1:56.7	of the confirmed cases have been in younger people ages 19 and below. And a large proportion of
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