US measles outbreak: 2nd death reported in US state of New Mexico

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, United States (AA) - A second person has died from a measles outbreak in the US, this time in the Southwestern state of New Mexico, health officials announced on Thursday.

The New Mexico Health Department said the unvaccinated adult tested positive for measles after dying, making this the second measles death in the United States in a decade.

The death happened in Lea County, where officials reported it as the 10th confirmed case of measles. Lea County borders the epicenter of the measles outbreak in Gaines County in West Texas, where an unvaccinated school-aged child died in late February after nearly 160 people were identified as being infected by the highly contagious virus.

The majority of cases have been in people who are unvaccinated, including the New Mexico victim, where the unvaccinated adult did not seek medical care before dying. New Mexico health officials said this is the state's first measles death in at least 40 years, citing US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) records, which date back to 1985. They are urging residents to get vaccinated.

"We do not want to see New Mexicans getting sick or dying from measles," Dr. Chad Smelser, New Mexico’s deputy state epidemiologist, said in a statement. "The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is the best protection against this serious disease."

The previous nine measles patients did not require hospitalization, but due to the seriousness of the outbreak, New Mexico health officials are scheduling free measles vaccinations to the public for the next week.