Health officials in the state of Texas have announced that the largest measles outbreak in US history has ended.

The disease, which infected more than 700 people, led to the deaths of two unvaccinated school-aged children.

Health officials declared the outbreak over after more than 42 days without new reported cases.


The infection began spreading in January this year when a cluster of cases was reported in Gaines County, near the border with New Mexico, which had one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state.

With a total of 762 cases recorded, more than two-thirds of infections were among children, and more than 100 people were hospitalized.


Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease that had been considered eradicated in the United States as of 2000.

However, due to a decline in vaccinations, a growing number of states no longer report rates consistent with herd immunity, and infections have returned.

The last outbreak of a similar scale occurred in 2019, when 1,274 cases were confirmed across the country.

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