Texas measles outbreak grows to 90 cases, largest in over 30 years
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(AUSTIN, Texas) — The number of measles cases linked to an outbreak in western Texas has grown to 90, according to new data released on Friday.
Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, and 16 people have been hospitalized so far, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Five cases included those who have been vaccinated.
A DSHS spokesperson previously told ABC News that this marks the largest measles outbreak in the state in more than 30 years.
Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases with 51, followed by 26 cases among children ages 4 and under.
Gaines County is the epicenter of the outbreak, with 57 cases confirmed among residents, according to DSHS. State health data shows the number of vaccine exemptions in the county have grown dramatically.
Roughly 7.5% of kindergarteners had parents or guardians who filed for an exemption for at least one vaccine in 2013. Ten years later, that number rose to more than 17.5% — one of the highest in all of Texas, according to state health data.
Meanwhile, in neighboring New Mexico, at least nine cases have been confirmed in Lea County, which borders Texas, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health told ABC News on Friday.
Similarly to the local outbreaks, all of the nationally confirmed cases are in people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles up to nine out of 10 susceptible close contacts, according to the CDC.
Health officials have been urging anyone who isn’t vaccinated to receive the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) shot.
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. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective.
(NEW YORK) — The rates of late-stage breast cancer at diagnosis have risen among women in all racial and ethnic groups, but Black women have been hit the hardest, according to a new study published in the journal Radiology.
The study, which looked at data from 2004 to 2021, found that advanced breast cancer rates have risen among women of all ages, with the sharpest increases in young women aged 20 to 39, and women over 75.
Black women experience advanced diagnoses 55% more often than white women and are more likely to die from the disease, the study found.
While mammography does save lives by catching cancer earlier, fewer than 70% of eligible women are up to date on their screenings, the study found.
This trend is particularly alarming because early detection significantly improves survival. Five-year survival rates drop drastically from 99% for early-stage breast cancer to just 31% when the cancer is more advanced and has already spread to other parts of the body, the study found.
However, disparities persist despite Black women having similar self-reported mammography use rates as white women.
“Black women tend to have more aggressive breast cancers, including a higher rate of triple-negative breast cancers,” study co-author, Edward Hendrick, Ph.D., clinical professor of radiology at the University of Colorado told ABC News. “There may also be differences in how findings are acted upon, reflecting barriers to high-quality care.”
The COVID-19 pandemic made things worse as well, Hendrick noted, with many women skipping or delaying mammograms.
“Volumes at screening sites for the year 2020 were down as much as 90% from 2019 levels,” he said. “These missed screenings contributed to higher rates of advanced breast cancers in 2021 and likely subsequent years.”
The study also pointed to other possible reasons for the uptick in later-stage diagnoses.
“Obesity in post-menopausal women increases breast cancer risk, as does prolonged exposure to estrogen from early periods or late menopause,” explained study co-author, Debra L. Monticciolo, M.D., a professor of radiology at Texas A&M University.
She added that physicians could help by offering a breast cancer risk assessment to their patients starting at age 25. Identifying high-risk women early would help catch cancers sooner, she said.
Despite the concerning statistics, the study suggested that solutions are within reach. Increasing screening rates, expanding healthcare access, and ensuring follow-up care after abnormal mammograms could make a difference.
“Improving equity in care is critical to saving lives,” Monticciolo said. “By prioritizing access to care for all and emphasizing the importance of early detection, we believe this trend of rising late-stage diagnoses can be reversed.”
Late-stage breast cancer diagnoses are not just statistics — they reflect missed opportunities for prevention and early treatment, Hendrick added.
“We could benefit from greater public awareness of the importance of catching breast cancer at its earliest, most curable stages,” he said.
Breast cancer accounts for about one in three new cancer diagnoses in women every year, according to the latest American Cancer Society statistics. More than 40,000 American women die from the disease yearly.
Esther Zusstone, MD, is a radiology resident at NYU Langone, and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
Human Bird Flu Cases in the U.S. as of January 6, 2025. Image by ABC News. Data via CDC.
(NEW YORK) — In the nearly nine months since the first human case of bird flu was detected in the United States, the virus has continued to spread.
The outbreak infected hundreds of herds and millions of birds before it spread to humans. As of Jan. 6, there have been 66 human cases of bird flu reported in 10 states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Almost all confirmed cases involve direct contact with infected cattle or infected livestock.
On Tuesday, the first death of a human bird flu patient was reported in Louisiana. The patient was over the age of 65 and had underlying medical conditions, according to health officials.
The CDC says there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission and the risk to the general public is low.
However, public health experts say they are worried the virus could mutate and become more transmissible, amplifying the need to ramp up testing and to stockpile vaccines.
Dr. Tony Moody, a professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases specialist at Duke University, said the fact that cases have yet to pass from human to human is “both reassuring, but not completely reassuring.”
He told ABC News, “What we’re concerned about is that, eventually, we might get a variation of this strain that could pass from person to person. That’s really what we’re going to need to see, I think, to get substantial human cases and the potential for a new pandemic strain.”
He added, “So, in terms of peering into the crystal ball for 2025…I think the concern is whether or not we’re going to see something change that will turn it into a pandemic strain that could then really be a problem,” he added.
Fears of mutation or a combination virus
One fear experts have is that the virus will continue to mutate in a way that will cause more human-to-human transmissibility. The experts say that every new human case of bird flu allows the virus an opportunity to mutate.
Recent CDC data found mutations in samples of bird flu collected from the Louisiana patient. What’s more, the mutations were not found in poultry samples collected on the patient’s property, suggesting the changes appeared after the patient became infected.
Moody said that because the virus has not yet mutated in a way to spread more easily between humans, he’s not sure if or when it will happen.
“Given the number of cows that have been infected, the number of birds that have been infected and the fact that the virus essentially mutates every time it replicates, I’m kind of surprised that the mutations that they’re talking about haven’t happened yet,” he said. “So, I actually think there’s a bigger barrier to it becoming a real problem.”
Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said he believes there is a more likely scenario of the virus becoming more transmissible: an individual getting infected with bird flu and seasonal influenza at the same time.
He said this could lead to the virus “reassorting” to produce a hybrid, or recombinant, virus that could then transmit more easily from person to person.
“Everyone’s focusing on the potential for mutation; that is a serious concern for some,” he told ABC News. “The greater probability is that there could be a reassortment, what could ignite the pandemic or an epidemic.”
The experts say there is no evidence the virus is currently heading towards an epidemic or pandemic, but there has already been one case of severe disease.
Different genotypes, or genetic makeup of the virus, means there could more severe cases.
“What we’ve seen with [bird flu] in the United States is that the particular genotype that’s associated with dairy cows has primarily caused more mild disease in people,” Dr. Meghan Davis, an associate professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News.
“What we’ve seen with the case in Louisiana … is caused by a different genotype, one that has been circulating in the wild birds, and these are much more severe cases,” she continued. “This highlights the ability of avian influenzas to cause a wide variety of disease … and I think it is possible that we’re going to see that moving forward.”
Making testing more available
The U.S. has begun ramping up testing with the U.S. Department of Agriculture issuing a federal order for raw milk samples nationwide to be collected and tested and the Food and Drug Administration announcing it is collecting samples of aged raw cow’s milk cheese to be tested.
However, for 2025, Hotez said he believes testing needs to be made more readily available to physicians, especially during flu season.
He said there are likely cases of bird flu going undiagnosed, and testing made more available in health care settings would catch those flying under the radar.
“I think one of the problems that we have, especially as we move into influenza season, there’s the risk that, if you’re a physician, if they want to do influenza testing, they’re only really testing for the usual seasonal influenza, they’re not testing for [bird flu],” he said. “Otherwise, we’re never going to fully know the actual extent of the problem.”
Stockpiling bird flu vaccines
In early July, the U.S. government awarded Moderna $176 million to develop and test a bird flu vaccine using mRNA technology, which is the same technology used for the COVID vaccine.
In October, federal health officials announced they were providing $72 million to vaccine manufacturers to help ensure currently available bird flu vaccines are ready to use, if needed.
There are currently no recommendations for anyone in the U.S. to be vaccinated against bird flu, but experts say that could change if the virus becomes more transmissible.
Moody said clinical trials for new vaccines are being conducted and there are already bird flu vaccines in a stockpile maintained by the U.S. government that have previously been licensed by the FDA.
However, these three vaccines were formulated to protect against older strains of bird flu so there are questions about their protectiveness.
“One of the difficulties in making a stockpile is you’re trying to predict the future. Picking which influenza is going to be a problem is always the difficult bit,” Moody said. “So, I think that those vaccines that are in the stockpile, based on the data that I’ve seen, have a pretty good chance of being helpful. Whether or not they’ll be the answer that’s a that’s a tougher question to address.”
He said the U.S. is in a better position currently to address bird flu if it becomes an epidemic or pandemic than the country was to address COVID in 2020.
“We know how to do this. We know how to make these vaccines. We know how to get everything rolled out, and so I think we are in a better position today,” Moody said.
Herd of cows eating hay in a dairy farm. (STOCK PHOTO/Adobe Stock)
(NEW YORK) — A second type of bird flu has been found in dairy cows for the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday.
Until recently, all dairy herd detections in the U.S. had involved a form of bird flu, or avian influenza, known as B3.13.
This strain of bird flu, known as D1.1, has only ever previously been detected in wild birds and poultry, indicating that it has only recently spread to cows.
The detection, found in dairy cattle in Nevada, was a result of the USDA’s national milk testing program that launched in early December, according to the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
“USDA APHIS continues to work with the Nevada Department of Agriculture by conducting additional on-farm investigation, testing, and gathering additional epidemiological information to better understand this detection and limit further disease spread,” the agency said in a statement on its website.
There have been a total of 957 confirmed cattle infections in 16 states, with 36 new infections in the last 30 days in California and Nevada, the latest USDA data showed.
D1.1 has also been shown to be potentially dangerous to humans. Of the 67 human cases of bird flu detected in the U.S. beginning in April 2024, one of the only patients infected with D1.1 was in Louisiana.
The Louisiana patient died earlier this year, although health officials said the patient was over age 65 and had underlying health conditions.
Additionally, a 13-year-old girl in British Columbia, Canada, was admitted to the intensive care unit with the same strain in November.
The Louisiana patient was exposed to a backyard flock, and the Canadian teenager had an unknown exposure.
The CDC said in a statement on Thursday that it is continuing to “monitor this situation closely” for any signs that risk to human health has changed.
“Risk remains low despite what appears to be the introduction of a different genotype of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus into dairy cows based on the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Stakeholder Registry email,” the statement said. “CDC continues to monitor this situation closely for signs that would indicate the risk to human health has changed.”
The CDC noted that the risk to the general public remains low, and that there is no evidence of human-to-human spread.
The USDA issued a federal order late last year, asserting that raw milk samples nationwide be collected and shared with the agency in order to test for bird flu.
The order marked the start of the agency’s National Milk Testing Strategy, a program intended to boost surveillance of the nation’s milk supply and dairy herds and increase understanding of how bird flu is spreading.The USDA said the D1.1 detection in dairy cows “does not change USDA’s [bird flu] eradication strategy and is a testament to the strength of our National Milk Testing Strategy.”
APHIS said it plans to publish a technical brief on the findings on its website and post the sequence data on an open-access databank in the coming week.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
