Measles: A look back at the history of the virus
RFK Jr. on Texas measles outbreak
Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks about the measles outbreak in Texas that has killed a child.
A measles outbreak infecting patients in Texas and New Mexico has turned deadly.
An unvaccinated school-aged child died of the virus, according to the City of Lubbock.
It is the first measles death in the United States since 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Texas measles outbreak 2025: First death reported
This is the first death in the U.S. caused by measles since 2015, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The virus was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000.
History of Measles
An unidentified medical professional talks with a boy who holds a lollipop reward after participating in a measles vaccine research program, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, 1963. This child was one of 1800 children in the Philadelphia area who took part i
The backstory:
One of the first written accounts of measles was published by a Persian doctor in the 9th century, according to the CDC.
In 1912, measles was named a nationally notifiable disease in the United States.
A vaccine was developed and became available in the United States in 1963.
By 1981, measles cased dropped by 80 percent from the previous year.
Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. A disease is declared eliminated if there is no continuous spread of the disease for 12 months.
Measles before the vaccine
By the numbers:
The CDC says in the decade before the measles vaccine was released 3 to 4 million people in the United States were infected each year.
400 to 500 people were killed and about 48,000 people were hospitalized annually.
Measles cases since the vaccine
(Source: Centers for Disease Control)
Measles cases have dropped significantly since the vaccine was introduced.
A second dose of the measles. mumps and rubella vaccine was recommended in 1989 and cases dropped even further.
Since 1993, there has only been one year with more than 1,000 cases reported in the United States.
Prior to this year, the last measles death was in 2015, according to the CDC.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Centers for Disease Control.