In Rural West Texas, Measles Outbreak Signals Concerns over Federal Changes
By Madeline De Figueiredo
Reporting Texas
Amid concerns that Trump administration policies have reduced access to public health data, the Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed a measles outbreak in Gaines County, which borders New Mexico, with 10 cases reported so far.
Andrea Jacks, chief research and evaluation officer at the Texas Health Institute, said changes in information sharing by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have made it harder for local and state health officials to access real-time monitoring insights on disease progression and interventions, complicating their ability to respond effectively with limited resources.
“We can get data from the state about what’s happening in Texas, but without knowing what’s happening outside of Texas, we don’t have the full picture,” Jacks said, emphasizing that Gaines County’s proximity to New Mexico poses severe concerns. “When dealing with infectious disease outbreaks, our ability to access timely, objective data that crosses state lines is really important.”
Texas DSHS last week confirmed six measles cases connected to unvaccinated school children in Gaines County, with a population of 22,523 and located roughly between Lubbock and Odessa and across the border from Hobbs, New Mexico. By Saturday, the outbreak had grown to 10 cases, with seven patients hospitalized, and Texas DSHS warned the number could rise. Measles is a highly contagious disease that can lead to complications such as pneumonia and swelling of the brain.
“Right now, our state and local officials are missing a key partner in their work,” Jacks said. “We hope to see the vital information the CDC provides back online soon.”
Lara Anton with Texas DSHS confirmed that the state is supporting Gaines County with vaccination drives and has issued local and statewide advisories.
“Since Gaines County is right there on the border, if during the case investigation (the health department) finds that someone was in New Mexico during their infectious period, they would contact New Mexico,” Anton said.
But without broader information sharing, previously facilitated by federal agencies, communities could be impacted.
“In a case like this and others like it, it is the combined effects of the continued pause on the release of real time information coming from the CDC coupled with removed data that make it even more difficult for local and state public health officials to respond,” Jacks said.
Dr. David Weber, president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, said that key CDC webpages, including those that issue health alerts and surveillance reports, have been flickering on and offline since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Many of these reports, such as the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report – which is the CDC’s main platform for publishing scientific data and public health guidance – have been suspended for weeks, leaving crucial information out of reach.
“The CDC is the key federal agency that receives the surveillance data from the states and then publishes it in several forms,” Weber said, emphasizing that it is critical to track transmission nationally given how mobile people are. “There is no comparable set of data anywhere…there is no alternative way to get data that is countrywide.”
The New Mexico Department of Health confirmed it is aware of, and monitoring, the Gaines County measles outbreak.
“Measles spreads easily and can linger in the air for hours after a person infected has left a room,” said Dr. Miranda Durham, the New Mexico Department of Health Chief Medical Officer, in a press release. “The Texas cases highlight the importance of making sure you and your children are up-to-date on the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.”
Due to ongoing vaccination drives, the South Plains Public Health District was unavailable to comment.
“In this case, we have a smaller outbreak that the states seem to have capacity to address together, but the concern in public health is always that the next case will be bigger,” Jacks said. “If this is an ongoing decision that some of this data will be taken down, that could have some really big implications for our ability to address public health issues.”