The measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico have surpassed a combined 350 cases, and two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes.

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

Already, the U.S. has more measles cases this year than in all of 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S.

How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico?

Texas state health officials said Friday there were 30 new cases of measles since Tuesday, bringing the total to 309 across 14 counties — most in West Texas. Four more people were hospitalized, for a total of 40. Three new Texas counties reported cases: Garza, Hockley and Hale.

New Mexico health officials announced three new cases Friday, bringing the state’s total to 42. Most of the cases are in Lea County, where two people have been hospitalized, and two are in Eddy County.

Oklahoma’s state health department has four probable cases as of this week. Last week, it said the first two probable cases were “associated” with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks.

A school-age child died of measles in Texas last month, and New Mexico reported its first measles-related death in an adult last week.

Where else is measles showing up in the U.S.?

Measles cases also have been reported in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an outbreak as three or more related cases — and there have been three clusters that qualified as outbreaks in 2025.

In the U.S., cases and outbreaks are generally traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in communities with low vaccination rates. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles.

Do you need an MMR booster?

The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old.

People at high risk for infection who got the shots many years ago may want to consider getting a booster if they live in an area with an outbreak, said Scott Weaver with the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. Those may include family members living with someone who has measles or those especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases because of underlying medical conditions.

Adults with “presumptive evidence of immunity” generally don’t need measles shots now, the CDC said. Criteria include written documentation of adequate vaccination earlier in life, lab confirmation of past infection or being born before 1957, when most people were likely to be infected naturally.

A doctor can order a lab test called an MMR titer to check your levels of measles antibodies, but health experts don’t always recommend this route and insurance coverage can vary.

Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says.

People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s don’t need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles vaccine made from “killed” virus should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said. That also includes people who don’t know which type they got.

What are the symptoms of measles?

Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash.

The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC.

Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.

How can you treat measles?

There’s no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.

Why do vaccination rates matter?

In communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called “herd immunity.”

But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots.

The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60.

AP Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

SANTA FE, N.M. — It is a race to the finish line for legislation aimed at reforming New Mexico’s troubled Children Youth and Families Department.

That starts with major changes to a program our 4 Investigates team discovered was failing our most vulnerable families – the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, known as CARA.

An emergency room is not the place any of us want to be but, at an Espanola hospital last July, a northern New Mexico grandmother was almost relieved when officers show up.

“This is what I needed, this is really what I needed,” she said to an officer.

She’s not thankful that her 10-month-old grandson overdosed on fentanyl.

“I’m not saying I wanted this to happen. But this is what happened right now. I can use this in court to petition for my own grandson,” she said.

She’s hopeful this time someone may finally listen.

“It makes me sick to my stomach. No mother and no New Mexican should have to hear that. And we should be held accountable for that,” said Republican state Rep. Gail Armstrong, the New Mexico House Minority Leader. “The governor should be held accountable for that. CYFD should be held accountable for that.”

Armstrong remembers when New Mexico passed CARA in 2019. Instead of calling CYFD for child abuse when a baby was born to a mom on drugs, hospitals were supposed to create a plan of care – a way to get parents help while keeping families safe together – but that’s not how things always play out.

“CYFD was involved when the baby was born. But then after a while they dropped the case,” the grandmother said. “And that was it. Which, I think they’re doing a shi–y job because they should have followed through.”

Over the last several years, 4 Investigates discovered dozens of babies have died from a drug overdose or with drugs in their system. Their parents are either in prison or facing years behind bars.

“There’s no reporting. There’s no follow up. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing and it’s really no one’s fault but CYFD,” Armstrong said.

While families like Jeramay Martinez’s are stuck in a cycle of addiction.

“How do you expect someone to follow a plan when there is no plan? There is no resource. There is no actual treatment. That’s what I saw,” Martinez said.

Democratic state Sen. Michael Padilla said the New Mexico Legislature will finally overhaul CARA this year.

“There’s a lot of people with their eyes on this now so we don’t drop the ball on this ever again,” Padilla said.

Senate Bill 42, which Armstrong signed on to, moves the CARA to the Healthcare Authority. That would allow care coordinators to use an evidence-based model to get that family what they need. It would no be longer voluntary. If a family doesn’t engage, there will be a family assessment and a call to CYFD.

Padilla said lawmakers set aside more than $20 million for the program.

“There’s just no horsing around anymore. We are going to focus like a laser beam on that baby,” Padilla said.

There is hope – but also skepticism. Family members told KOB 4, even with a plan, if services aren’t available the moment someone is willing to go, they won’t get the help they need.

“This administration has had six years to fix this and they kept saying give us time, give us time, give us time. Well, time is up.”

By Rebecca Sheff, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico & Zoe Bowman, Supervising Attorney at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center 

Editor’s note: Trigger Warning: this narrative mentions thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation. This is the third in a series of stories from inside the Otero County Processing Center, based on interviews conducted in the summer of 2024 by Colorado College students: Alex Reynolds, Sandra Torres, Karen Henriquez Fajardo, and Michelle Ortiz. We are grateful for their invaluable work on this project.

We spoke with Leonel Jose Rivas Gonzalez at the Otero County Processing Center in June 2024. Leonel is one of three men, represented by Las Americas, Center for Constitutional Rights, and the ACLU of New Mexico, who recently petitioned a federal district court to prevent their transfer to Guantánamo. Despite initially obtaining a temporary restraining order enjoining their transfer, Leonel and the other petitioners were deported to Venezuela on February 10, 2025—less than 24 hours after the court order was issued. They were put on the first deportation flights to Venezuela in over a year.

Leonel was born in Venezuela in 1997 and, along with his siblings, was raised by his grandparents after his mother passed away. Growing up, his family would gather to celebrate birthdays and Christmas together.

Leonel described himself as a “salsero” who enjoys dancing and sports, though he emphasized that more than anything, “I liked to study.” His dream of becoming a businessman led him to study sales and management. What he talked about loving most was “playing with my daughter” and his simple wish for “Un buen vivir”—a good life. 

“I feel kidnapped…
Sometimes I could not stop crying,”

Leonel entered the US in December 2023 and was taken into ICE custody. An immigration judge ordered his deportation in March 2024. Months later, he was still detained in Otero, even though there were no deportation flights from the US to Venezuela due to the diplomatic breakdown between the two countries.

“I feel kidnapped,” Leonel told us. 

He found the arbitrary rules at Otero dehumanizing: “You can’t even put your hand on another detainee’s shoulder without the guards coming at you. They see everything as bad.” 

Leonel and other immigrants held in Otero were placed in solitary confinement as punishment for participating in a hunger strike protesting conditions at the Otero facility and ICE not responding to their release requests. 

He spent 45 days in solitary. During this ordeal, “I thought about cutting my wrists,” he confessed, “but thinking about my [partner] and daughter gave me strength.” The guards sometimes “shut their windows,” intensifying his anxiety. “Sometimes I could not stop crying,” he said.

With only “a really small window” connecting him to the outside world, Leonel turned to reading—”mainly the Bible or Bible analysis books”—to maintain his sanity.

“Los Venezolanos no somos peligrosos a la sociedad.”

To cope with detention, Leonel watched TV and slept. He used to talk more with family, but the facility restricted calls and charged high rates. When mental health staff visited, he stayed silent, having heard that conditions are worse in the mental health clinic. 

Leonel has held onto dreams for life beyond detention. He hopes to be reunited with his family, travel the country and see new sights, and work. 

“Los Venezolanos no somos peligrosos a la sociedad,” Leonel emphasized—Venezuelans are not dangerous to society. His story, like Junior’s and Yofer’s, underscores why New Mexico must pass House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act. Our state must not continue to enable a detention system that strips immigrants of their dignity, subjects them to arbitrary punishment, and denies them the chance to contribute to our communities.