Once eliminated in the U.S., the virus could become endemic again. The expanding measles outbreak that has spread from West Texas into New Mexico and Oklahoma could take a year to contain, a public health leader in the area where the outbreak started warned on Tuesday.
Katherine Wells, director of public health for the city of Lubbock, said the outbreak is still growing, with capacity to transmit both locally and further afield through spread to pockets of unvaccinated individuals. Though the response teams have been stressing the importance of vaccination, uptake of vaccines “has definitely been a struggle,” Wells said.