Ancient disease runs rampant with more than 1,000 cases reported and unvaccinated children dying

An ancient disease is continuing to run rampant as more than 1,000 cases were reported - and is spreading further afield as a child died.

There were 127,350 cases of in Europe and Central Asia in 2024, double the number of cases reported the previous year and the highest number since 1997, according to an analysis by the World Health Organization and Unicef. Measles is among the world's most and is spread by an airborne virus. High numbers have also been reported in the US where it surpassed 1,000 cases Friday, with the vast majority found in Texas where two unvaccinated children died.

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In an update it was confirmed the outbreak has also spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. Lisa Maragakis, senior director of infection prevention at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said: “I think we are still at risk of seeing these numbers at least stay steady, if not continue to increase over time.”

An adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated has also died of a measles-related illness. Other states with active outbreaks include Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

North America currently has two other ongoing outbreaks with one outbreak in Ontario, Canada so far resulting in 1,440 cases from mid-October through May 6 - up 197 cases in a week. Chihuahua in Mexico has had 1,041 measles cases and one death as of Friday, according to data from the state health ministry.

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that's airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

Unicef said that about 40% of measles infections in Europe and Central Asia were in children under five and that more than half of all people sickened by measles had to be hospitalised.

The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Local health officials said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of "what the child's doctor described as measles pulmonary failure."

Two doses of the measles vaccine is estimated to be 97% effective in preventing the disease, which typically infects the respiratory system and causes symptoms including fever, cough, runny nose and a rash. In serious cases, measles can cause pneumonia, encephalitis, dehydration, and blindness.