Measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico are now up to nearly 300 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.

As of Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its count of confirmed measles cases in the U.S. surpassed 2024. 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 36 new cases of measles since Tuesday, bringing Texas’ total to 259. Five more people were hospitalized, for a total of 34. The outbreak has spread to two new counties: Cochran in West Texas with six and Lamar in the northeast part of the state with four.

New Mexico health officials announced two new cases Friday, bringing the state’s total to 35. Most of the cases are in Lea County, where two people are hospitalized. Eddy County has two cases.

Oklahoma’s state health department reported two probable cases of measles Tuesday, saying they are “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 have been reported in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, 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.

Courtesy of Braidon Nourse

Andrew Meadow’s five-point stretch felt like a landslide when it mattered most.

1-8 from 3 for the first 39:12?

Big whoop. Shooters shoot. It turned into ball game after some free throws. With a 72-69 win, No. 5 Boise State shocked No. 1 New Mexico and its aims for a title defense in Friday’s first semifinal of the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Basketball Championship.

Down a point with just 48 seconds to go, Meadow caught and shot a 3-ball from the left wing to take a two-point lead. After getting a stop, the Broncos went to Meadow again on a touchdown pass down the court on a backcourt baseline out of bounds. He caught it with no one in front of him and slammed it with two hands, just to be sure.

The four-point lead proved to be too much for the Lobos to come back from. Meadow finished with 16 points and five rebounds.

“That was huge. That’s what we tell these guys: ‘Every miss increases your odds on the next one when you’re a great shooter,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “We want them shooting with confidence. You’ve got to make those timely ones, and you have to have some players who can step up and do it. We’ve got some guys like that.”

For most of the game, the show-stealer was Broncos forward Emmanuel Ugbo. After starting forward O’Mar Stanley got into early foul trouble — and stayed in it any time he subbed in — Ugbo was called upon for the role. And he starred.

His 25 minutes, 17 points and three blocks were all career highs for the sophomore. Adding five rebounds, he became the first player in tournament history to record those numbers off the bench.

“I just want to thank my teammates and coaches for trusting me,” Ugbo said. They tell me to stay ready. They have seen what I can do in practices and games before. Today, I just let it rip. Like coach always says, be ready because you never know when your chance is going to come. Today was my chance and I took it.”

On the other end, particularly in the first half, the Broncos did well to limit New Mexico’s biggest stars, Nelly Junior Joseph and Donovan Dent.

They finished with 19 and 23 points, respectively, and Dent single handedly kept it a game in the dying moments, but both of them seemed visibly frustrated at times during the first frame.

“(Dent) is just one of the best point guards in the country. You can’t guard him with one guy,” Rice said. “You’ve got to guard him with a team and sometimes that’s not enough. He’s a heck of a player and he’s had a great career there.

“You love competing against guys like that and we love these kinds of games. That’s what you live for as players and coaches, to be in these kinds of games. Our guys are embracing that.”

The win sets up the Broncos second ever trip to the MW championship game, their previous appearance was a win against San Diego State in 2022, against the winner of No. 2 Colorado State and No. 3 Utah State.

Ask Rice, and his Broncos live for this moment. What led them to victory against the Lobos tells you why.

“It’s the ability to respond to adversity,” Rice said. “The ability to get up off the floor, take some punches, get back up, go to your corner and then come out punching again. We’ve got a lot of that to us.”

New Mexico is not known as an economic powerhouse. Despite being one of the sunniest states in the country, its population has hardly grown over the last decade. Meanwhile, the populations of its biggest neighbors—Arizona, Texas, and Colorado—have grown rapidly. Economic growth in the region follows a similar pattern, with New Mexico’s growth trailing its neighbors. In a new report, author’s Matthew Mitchell and Paul Gessing link New Mexico’s weak economy to its lack of economic freedom.

New Mexico is the fourth sunniest state in the country. It has cooler summers than Phoenix and warmer winters than Denver. Research shows that people are attracted to places with nice weather, yet New Mexico’s population only grew by 1% from 2013 to 2022. Meanwhile, Arizona’s grew by 12%, Colorado’s by 11%, and Texas’s by 14%. Employment growth, real GDP growth, and income growth all follow the same pattern (see figure below), with New Mexico trailing its neighbors over this period.

New Mexico’s favorable weather should be a plus, yet there is something holding the state back. In their new report, Mitchell and Gessing make a convincing case that a lack of economic freedom is keeping New Mexico from experiencing the same success as its neighbors.

Economic freedom is the degree to which individuals are allowed to make their own economic choices. Choices about where to work and on what terms, and how to invest their time and money. Places that allow more economic decisions to made by individuals have more economic freedom.

Dozens of studies show that places with more economic freedom, whether it be countries, states, or cities, tend to have better economic outcomes, including more job growth, higher incomes, less poverty, and more business creation. New Hampshire is the freest state according to the latest edition of the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of North America index, while New Mexico ranks 47^th, well behind Arizona (32), Colorado (14), and Texas (5).

Even worse, New Mexico is the only state where economic freedom declined over the last 40 years. Yes, you read that right—in every state but New Mexico, economic freedom increased from 1981 to 2022 (the latest available data).

New Mexico’s lack of economic freedom is contributing to its poor economic performance. As the report notes, if New Mexico increased economic freedom by 10% to a level like that of Maine (which is not that free at 38^th overall) its per capita GDP could increase by as much as 5%, or about $10,000 for a family of four. This is a non-trivial increase in output that requires relatively modest policy changes.

A state’s overall economic freedom score is composed of scores from three areas—government spending, taxation, and labor market regulation. New Mexico ranks 49^th in government spending, 36^th in taxation, and 49^th in labor market regulation. Each of these scores is the lowest in the Southwest, as shown in the figure below.

One of the first things New Mexico should do to increase economic freedom is lower its taxes. It has the highest top marginal income tax rate in the region at 5.9%, more than double Arizona’s 2.5% flat rate. Texas has no personal income tax. It also has the region’s highest corporate income tax rate, also at 5.9%. Worse, its corporate income tax is not indexed to inflation. This means more and more companies will pay the higher rate as inflation pushes their income over the minimum threshold, despite their profits not being higher when inflation is accounted for.

New Mexico policymakers should lower their top personal and corporate income tax rates to make them more competitive with their neighbors. A lower, flat rate like Arizona’s 2.5% rate would incentivize work and investment. New Mexico can also afford a lower rate since the state’s oil and gas industry is bringing in billions of dollars in tax revenue each year. The report notes that New Mexico has had a run of $3.5 billion surpluses in recent years.

Policymakers in New Mexico should also make it easier for people to work. Mitchell and Gessing point out that New Mexico has some of the most onerous occupational licensing regulations in the country. The state places a particularly large burden on occupations that often serve as an entry into the labor market. For example, HVAC contractors and sheet metal workers are required to spend four years in training before they can obtain a license. Drywall installers must train for three years before they can get a license. Barriers like these make it difficult for younger and less experienced workers to earn a living and support a family. Reducing these and other unnecessary licensing regulations would improve New Mexico’s economic freedom score and increase opportunity for the state’s residents.

New Mexico’s economy is lagging its neighbors and has for years, but it does not have to be this way. New Mexico policymakers can improve the state’s economy by lowering tax rates and reducing barriers to work. Such changes would increase economic freedom in New Mexico, and increasing economic freedom is a proven path to prosperity.