Texas measles outbreak grows to 279 cases, mostly among unvaccinated or those with unknown status
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(LUBBOCK, Texas) — The measles outbreak in western Texas is continuing to grow with 20 additional cases confirmed, bringing the total to 279 cases, according to new state data published Tuesday.
Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Just two cases are among fully vaccinated individuals. At least 36 people have been hospitalized so far, the state said.
In the Texas outbreak, children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases, at 120, followed by children ages 4 and under making up 88 cases, the DSHS data shows.
“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities,” the DSHS said in its update.
Two likely measles deaths have been reported so far in the U.S. The first reported death was an Texas, according to the DSHS. The child did not have any known underlying conditions, according to the department.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The former director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called for stronger, nationwide guidance on infant vaccine doses for measles prevention in a new opinion paper published Friday.
In the face of a growing measles outbreak — with more than 200 cases confirmed in western Texas — the federal health agency issued an alert on March 7 saying parents in the outbreak area should consider getting their children an early third dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The CDC currently recommends people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. The third early dose would occur starting at 6 months old.
Texas health officials have also recommended early vaccination for infants living in outbreak areas.
However, in the new opinion paper published in the medical journal JAMA, Dr. Rochelle Walensky and her co-authors say the CDC should issue a more direct nationwide recommendation.
“Right now, there is a higher risk of measles exposure in New Mexico than Mexico City, so our vaccine recommendations should reflect that,” co-author Dr. Benjamin Rader, a computational epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, told ABC News.
The suggested recommendations include that infants living in any high-risk area within the U.S. be advised to get an early dose of the MMR vaccine and that infants planning to visit high-risk areas — domestically or internationally — should get an early dose.
The authors say that, historically, unvaccinated children traveling internationally to measles-endemic reasons have resulted in the most cases of the disease in the U.S.
However, due to recent measles outbreaks in the U.S. and low vaccination rates, there is “a growing domestic hazard,” signaling the need for a policy change.
“With measles outbreaks increasing domestically, infants traveling to affected areas face significant risk,” said co-author Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and ABC News contributor. “Expanding early MMR vaccination beyond international travel to include high-risk U.S. regions is a necessary step to protect vulnerable populations.”
The CDC did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.
If an infant gets their first MMR vaccine at 6 months, they will cumulatively get three shots throughout childhood, rather than the standard two shots.
Young children under the age of 5 make up one-third of all measles cases in the U.S. this year and have the highest rate of hospitalization of any age group from measles, CDC data shows.
This group is also at risk for being more likely to suffer measles complications including hospitalization, pneumonia, encephalitis — swelling of the brain — and even death.
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(NEW YORK) — Semaglutide, a medication widely used for diabetes and weight loss, may offer another unexpected benefit — it could help people drink less alcohol.
A study published in JAMA Psychiatry enrolled 48 adults between ages 21 and 65 who had been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder but were not actively seeking treatment.
Half received semaglutide, a type of GLP-1 receptor agonist, while the other half received no treatment. Over the nine-week trial, participants taking semaglutide started at a dose of 0.25 mg per week, which gradually increased to 1.0 mg in the final week — a much lower dose than what’s typically prescribed for weight loss.
”We found the largest effects for outcomes related to drinking quantity or heavy drinking…[semaglutide] appeared to reduce drinking quantity,” said Christian Hendershot, PhD, the study’s lead author and director of clinical research at the USC Institute for Addiction Science, in an interview with ABC News.
In a controlled lab setting, participants taking semaglutide drank less alcohol. However, outside the lab, their overall drinking days and daily alcohol intake did not change significantly. They did, however, report fewer binge-drinking episodes and reduced alcohol cravings.
Hendershot emphasized that the participants were not actively trying to cut back on drinking or become abstinent, making the drug’s impact particularly interesting.
”The reason why semaglutide may have an effect on addictive behaviors and cravings and may play a role in treating alcohol use disorder is still not entirely clear,” said Dr. Stephanie Widmer, an emergency medicine physician and addiction medicine expert. ”More research needs to be done in order to really get a firm grasp on what the pathophysiology is behind this,” she added.
One possible explanation is that GLP-1 receptor agonists increase feelings of fullness, which could make alcohol less appealing, Hendershot said.
Previous animal studies suggest these medications may also affect the brain’s reward system, reducing the desire for substances like alcohol and nicotine. However, it remains unclear if the same effect holds true in humans.
Interestingly, the medication also appeared to reduce cigarette use in a small group of participants who smoked, hinting at broader effects on addictive behaviors.
”Preclinical studies indicate that GLP-1 receptor agonists reduce not just alcohol intake, but also nicotine self-administration and nicotine-related reward,” Hendershot noted. However, no FDA-approved medications currently exist to treat both alcohol and nicotine dependence.
Another unexpected benefit was that those treated with semaglutide lost 5% of their body weight over the course of the study. While this result is consistent with previous research, Hendershot noted the need to evaluate potential side effects, particularly in individuals with lower BMIs.
The study did have several important limitations. It was small, lasted only nine weeks, and was conducted in a controlled setting that may not fully reflect real-world drinking behaviors.
Additionally, because participants were not actively trying to reduce their alcohol consumption, their motivation—or lack of it—could have influenced the results, Henderson implied.
Still, the findings suggest semaglutide could play a role in reshaping addiction treatment. According to the National Institutes of Health, only three medications are currently FDA-approved to treat alcohol dependence, and many individuals with the condition never receive any treatment.
In 2023, more than 2 million people had alcohol use disorder, yet only about 8% received treatment.
”If semaglutide proves to be a better option than the three FDA-approved drugs that are currently in use, this would be a huge breakthrough for many,” Widmer said.
Dr. Christopher Wachuku is an internal medicine preliminary intern at Lankenau Medical Center and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(WASHINGTON) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday that the new coronavirus found in bats is currently not a cause for concern.
There is no reason to believe the virus poses a threat to public health at the moment and no infections have been detected in humans, according to the federal health agency.
“CDC is aware of a publication about a new bat coronavirus, but there is no reason to believe it currently poses a concern to public health,” the agency said in a statement. “The publication referenced demonstrates that the bat virus can use a human protein to enter cells in the laboratory, but they have not detected infections in humans.”
Chinese researchers, including from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Guangzhou Medical University, published a paper in the journal Cell on Friday indicating they had discovered a new bat coronavirus that could have the potential to infect humans.
The newer coronavirus is known as HKU5-CoV-2 and is a type of merbecovirus, which is the same family of another coronavirus known to infect humans called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
In a lab study, the new coronavirus was found to have the potential to enter cells through the ACE2 receptor, a protein found on the cells’ surface.
This is the same way the virus that causes COVID-19 infects people, which theoretically means the new coronavirus could pose a risk to spilling over into humans.
The spike protein of the new coronavirus infected human cells that had high levels of the ACE2 receptor in test tubes, as well as in small models of human airways and intestines.
The researchers found that the virus did not enter human cells as readily as the virus that causes COVID-19 — which is called SARS-CoV-2 — writing that the “risk of emergence in human populations should not be exaggerated.”
None of the animal studies that were conducted examined the virus’s ability to cause disease or its transmissibility.
If the virus were to infect humans, the researchers suggested antiviral drugs and monoclonal antibodies — laboratory-produced proteins that mimic the antibodies the body naturally creates when fighting a virus — could be effective.
There are hundreds of coronaviruses circulating in nature. Only a few can infect humans, causing illnesses ranging from mild respiratory tract infections to more severe conditions such as bronchitis or pneumonia.
Coronaviruses include some variations of the common cold, the virus that causes MERS, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the virus that causes COVID-19.
The researchers wrote that “bats harbor the highest proportion of genetically diverse coronaviruses,” posing a risk of spilling over into humans.
