RFK Jr. visits measles outbreak area as second child dies

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Gaines County, Texas, the center of a still-growing measles outbreak, on Sunday. He met with the parents of an 8-year-old girl who died last week from measles complications. The girl had not been vaccinated and was being treated for measles complications, a hospital told the Associated Press. Kennedy was seen outside a Mennonite church where the child’s funeral services were held late Sunday afternoon, the AP reported.

The health secretary redeployed teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to Texas to help with contact tracing and vaccinations, Kennedy said in a Sunday X post. The MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent measles infection, he said.

What’s the latest on the outbreak? The Texas Health Department on Friday reported 481 cases of measles since the outbreak began in late January. Most of the confirmed cases have been in children. One other unvaccinated child died in February. Fifty-six people have been hospitalized with measles throughout the outbreak. Kennedy said more than 200 measles cases have also popped up in 21 other states this year.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report from February about how the measles outbreak was growing.