Measles cases are most likely being underreported in the United States as public health officials scramble to find resources to address a ballooning outbreak in the Southwest, according to a senior scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far this year, 747 cases have been recorded in the United States, according to NBC News\u2019 tally. Two unvaccinated children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico<\/a> have died. The adult tested positive for measles, but the official cause of death is still under investigation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. David Sugerman, a senior scientist leading the CDC\u2019s measles response, said Tuesday at a meeting of the CDC\u2019s vaccine advisory committee that more than 90% of the cases are \u201crelated to the Southwest outbreak, driven by transmission in close-knit, undervaccinated communities.\u201d The other cases have largely been imported from other countries, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe do believe that there\u2019s quite a large amount of cases that are not reported and underreported,\u201d Sugerman said Tuesday as he updated the committee on measles. \u201cIn working very closely with our colleagues in Texas; in talking with families, they may mention prior cases that have recovered and never received testing, other families that may have cases and never sought treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sugerman said the CDC has deployed 15 people to Texas to help manage the outbreak and is sending seven more this week. It continues to make measles vaccines available to health departments at their request, he said, and it is helping standardize and expand wastewater surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the CDC slashed $11.4 billion in Covid funding<\/a> last month, some of which helped state health departments respond to disease outbreaks. Sugerman said the loss of Covid grant money has created \u201cfunding limitations\u201d in Texas, where state officials are redirecting staffers to work on the measles response or moving them from other regions to help support efforts in the outbreak area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are scraping to find the resources and personnel needed to provide support to Texas and other jurisdictions,\u201d Sugerman said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As of Tuesday, 561 cases had been confirmed in the West Texas outbreak, according to the state\u2019s Department of State Health Services<\/a>. <\/strong>Each measles case may cost $30,000 to $50,000 to address, which \u201cadds up quite quickly,\u201d Sugerman said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before this year, the United States had not had a measles death in a decade, and a child had not died of measles<\/a> since 2003. Many public health experts have criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s approach<\/a> to the outbreak. While Kennedy has called for people to get the measles vaccine, he has framed vaccination as a personal choice and emphasized unproven treatments<\/a> like steroids or antibiotics. He has also repeatedly claimed that immunity from measles vaccines wanes quickly<\/a>, despite robust evidence that two doses of the vaccine offer lifelong protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a media event Tuesday in Indiana, Kennedy said the CDC has \u201cdone a very good job at controlling the measles outbreak,\u201d pointing to higher case numbers in Europe<\/a>. However, the figure he cited \u2014 127,000 cases \u2014 was the total last year across 53 countries<\/a>. Disease experts say that is an apples-to-oranges comparison with the current outbreak in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy also suggested Tuesday that \u201chealthy children should not die of measles\u201d if doctors know how to treat it. In reality, no specific treatment is approved for measles, and unvaccinated children are vulnerable to severe complications, such as pneumonia and swelling of the brain. Roughly 1 to 3 out of every 1,000 children with measles die from respiratory and neurological complications, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CDC\u2019s vaccine advisory committee met Tuesday for the first time since Kennedy took office on Feb. 13. The meeting was originally scheduled for late February, but the Department of Health and Human Services postponed it<\/a>. A senior HHS spokesperson said at the time that the delay was intended to allow time for public comment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n