March 5, Los Angeles According to the CDC, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is responding to the expanding measles epidemic in the US state of Texas.

In a statement posted on social networking site X on Tuesday, the agency claimed that it had sent some of its “disease detectives” from the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) to the West Texas area. The state also reported 13 more cases that day, increasing the total to 159.

There is a measles epidemic in the South Plains area of Texas, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Since late January, 159 instances have been reported throughout the state. According to a Tuesday report by the Xinhua news agency, twenty-two of the victims have been admitted to hospitals.

An elementary school-aged youngster who resided in the epidemic area has died. According to Texas DSHS, the infant had no known underlying medical issues and was not immunized.

According to Texas DSHS, more cases are anticipated in the epidemic region and the nearby areas because of the disease’s high contagiousness.

To look into the epidemic, the agency is collaborating with regional health authorities.

“We must all renew our commitment to public health in light of the measles epidemic in Texas.

Kennedy said last week that the CDC was delivering doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and offering “technical assistance and vaccines” to cope with the epidemic, including lab support.

In Gaines County, the epidemic has mostly spread among Mennonites, who have traditionally had lower vaccination rates.

During a Cabinet meeting with President Trump last week, Kennedy, a longstanding vaccine skeptic, originally played down the epidemic, calling it “not unusual” and making up the story that many hospitalized individuals were there “mainly for quarantine.”

Although in an opinion piece published on the Fox News website on Sunday, he advised parents to see their physicians “to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine” and emphasized that the decision to be vaccinated was a “personal one,” he has yet to publicly advocate vaccination.