According to NBC News, the Department of Health and Human Services passed away late Saturday night, and the Department of Health and Human Services passed away.
This is the second pediatric death in the burgeoning outbreak that has infected nearly 500 people in Texas alone since January. Adults in New Mexico are also suspected of dying of measles. Death is the first time in a decade from an illness in the United States.
A spokesperson familiar with the plan said HHS Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was scheduled to attend the scheduled child funeral on Sunday.
As of Friday, the Texas Department of Health said 481 confirmed cases of measles and a 14% jump last week.
This includes six toddlers and toddlers from Lubbock Day Care Center who tested positive within the past two weeks.
Two of these children are among 56 people hospitalized with measles in the area since the disease began spreading in late January, health officials said.
Of the 1,000 children infected with measles, about 1-3 have died from respiratory and neurological complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And about one in every 20 children with measles suffer from pneumonia. This is the most common cause of death from measles in young children.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease caused by a virus that can lead to severe complications and death.
The outbreak, which began in Texas in late January, has since spread to at least two other states.
Nationally, 628 measles cases have been reported in 2025 in at least 21 states and in Washington, DC, according to NBC News Tally.
According to Lubbock’s Director of Public Health, Katherine Wells, the number is likely a huge underestimation given that many people have not been tested for the virus.
Wells and other health officials are now pleading families to vaccinate their children from measles.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two MMR vaccines are safe and 97% effective in preventing infection.
The first dose is generally given between 12 and 18 months, and the second is given around the age of five when the child enters kindergarten.
However, during an outbreak, a 6 month-old young baby can get that first shot.
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