This year, the United States has recorded more measles cases to date than it’s seen since the highly contagious virus was deemed eliminated 25 years ago. And that includes two in Louisiana.
But the vast majority of those cases are the result of the largest measles outbreak occurring in one of Louisiana’s neighboring states: Texas. At least 400 people have been infected in Gaines County, a rural area home to 21,000 residents in West Texas. Across the region, there have been at least 660 cases total so far. While the virus has infected about 200 unvaccinated adults, most of the Texans have been children who haven’t gotten the vaccine.
“It has spread like wildfire through that community because they’re not vaccinated. It’s a highly infectious disease, so there was nothing to stop it,” said Ronald Cook, the chief health officer at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center, which is one of the largest health care providers in the affected region.
As the outbreak continues to spread, Texas health officials are racing to vaccinate as many children and adults as possible to slow the infections, Cook said. In the meantime, two children have died, more than 80 have been hospitalized and others could be saddled with long-term health effects, from lung issues to consequences from swelling in the brain.
“Which is sad because this is a preventable disease with a vaccine,” Cook, who recently had his own 1-year-old granddaughter get vaccinated, said. “All of this is.”
Texas isn’t alone. At least 10 other, smaller outbreaks have occurred in other states, including New Mexico, Kansas and Ohio, this year. Public health officials, infectious disease researchers and physicians alike all point to one cause: not enough people are getting vaccinated. If a person with measles comes into contact with 10 people, it’s likely that nine of them will be infected. That’s why at least 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated to protect communities from the virus — and that’s not happening.
Louisiana is in the same boat. Statewide, only 91% of kindergarteners, on average, had received a measles vaccine, which also covers mumps and rubella, according to early data collected by the Louisiana Department of Health from the 2024-25 school year. Public health experts say that’s dangerously low and shows that a growing number of Louisianians could be vulnerable to an outbreak like the one happening in Texas.
Last month, the greater New Orleans area recorded two measles cases — the state’s first of the year – after two unvaccinated adults traveled abroad.
“We’re not unlike Texas in that we are at risk,” said Dr. Joseph Bochinni, a longtime infectious disease specialist who practices in Shreveport. “All we need is for a person that has measles to encounter people who aren’t immunized for an outbreak to occur. We’re seeing that in many states around the country right now.”
Bochinni serves as the president of the state chapter for the American Academy of Pediatrics and helps lead a coalition of Louisiana health care providers, public health organizations and families who promote vaccines and educate about limiting preventable diseases.
Concerns about the possibility of an outbreak have grown since the Louisiana Department of Health ended its promotion of vaccines, breaking away from how it had encouraged residents to get vaccinated in the past. While the health department still provides information on vaccines and supplies them to parishes, it has said it will stop holding vaccine events and now advises residents to talk to their doctor to find out if a vaccine is right for them.
Health department spokesperson Emma Herrock said the agency has “strongly supported” getting childhood vaccines like the one for measles, among others. The department has also shared guidance on how to identify the disease
Bochinni said part of what’s driving lower vaccination rates in Louisiana and nationally is a feeling of uncertainty about whether vaccines are safe or necessary, also called vaccine hesitancy. He and other Louisiana health advocates worry the agency’s new policy and criticism of past vaccine promotion will worsen the trend.
“When the public health department says they’re not going to promote vaccines, that’s a deviation from what public health is. That causes people to be somewhat hesitant about vaccines,” Bochinni said.
Even with a full-throated endorsement of vaccinations, Texas health officials are still struggling to convince parents in the community at the heart of the outbreak to vaccinate their children against measles to slow the spread.
“They’re just not interested. Even though we’ve had some uptick in vaccinations, we have other people that still choose not to get vaccinated or vaccinate their children,” said Cook, the chief health official at Texas Tech’s health center. “That’s their choice. We don’t force people to get vaccinated.”
Incorrect information circulating on social media and from some elected officials has fed into the uncertainty around vaccines, especially the one for measles. Studies show the measles vaccine is highly effective and doesn’t lead to intellectual disabilities, like autism.
The outbreak in Texas is largely centered in a pocket of very low vaccination rates. In 2024, just 81% of kindergarteners in Gaines County, Texas had been vaccinated, according to data from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.
“What’s happening in Texas and in places where we are seeing outbreaks: it’s always ultimately the result of clusters of unvaccinated individuals,” said Amy Winter, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Georgia. “You create the opportunity for the infection to be imported and then spread quite quickly.”
In Louisiana, more than two dozen parishes reported that less than 90% of their kindergarten students were vaccinated against measles. The lowest one — West Carroll Parish — reported that only 77% of their kindergarten students were vaccinated.
Although Louisiana requires all students to be vaccinated against measles, any parent can opt out for medical, religious or philosophical reasons, and all requests are granted.
Bochinni said the alliance of doctors, public health experts and parents are trying to help connect the dots and fight against vaccine hesitancy, but he said the support of the state health department is critical.
Municipalities like New Orleans or parishes don’t have the resources to do the kind of vaccine promotion or mass vaccination events for other preventable diseases, like the flu, that the state does. In most parishes, the state runs the local health unit, supplying the staff and vaccines, making it difficult for anyone but medical providers themselves to help fill the gap in promotion by the state.
Other preventable diseases like pertussis, or whooping cough, are also on the rise nationally. Two infants in Louisiana have died from whooping cough in the last seven months.
“We need an effort from the medical community, and specifically public health, to support the vaccine programs that we have in place because they’re successful and because they’re proven to be effective,” Bochinni said.