As the largest measles outbreak in the U.S. in 25 years spreads, health experts warn that more people choosing to be unvaccinated for infectious diseases will make it harder to replicate past successful responses to outbreaks.
Measles, a respiratory virus, was effectively eliminated in 2000, when the U.S. only saw 86 cases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated three to four million people in the U.S. were infected with measles and an estimated 400 to 500 people died from the disease each year before the vaccine became available in 1963.
But an outbreak in Texas that has spurred 309 cases as of March 21 and one death of a school-aged, unvaccinated child so far has spread throughout the country. New Mexico, too, has seen a spike in cases, with 42 people identified as having measles and one unvaccinated adult dying as of March 21, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.
