Texas measles cases surge as West Texas detention center outbreaks spread

By
Published  March 26, 2026 3:02pm CDT
FOX Local

Measles (Photo courtesy: CDC)

The Brief

    • More than 140 measles cases have been confirmed in West Texas, with the majority concentrated among detainees in Hudspeth and El Paso counties.
    • Health officials are tracking community spread in El Paso linked to detention facility employees who visited high-traffic public areas before diagnosis.
    • While the Fort Bliss immigration camp is under total lockdown due to the virus, state officials have not yet declared a formal outbreak for the Sierra Blanca site.

EL PASO, Texas - Health officials in West Texas have identified 147 confirmed measles cases this year, with the vast majority linked to regional detention facilities as of mid-March.

Measles in Texas

Big picture view:

Hudspeth County currently accounts for 108 of those instances, all concentrated among individuals held at the West Texas Detention Facility in Sierra Blanca. While no residents of the county have tested positive, the site is under intense scrutiny because many employees live in and travel from nearby El Paso.

Measles outbreak forces lockdown of Texas ICE detention facility

A measles outbreak at the Fort Bliss immigration camp has infected 14 detainees and forced a total lockdown of the facility.

In El Paso County, officials have logged 23 cases, including 17 involving people in custody at the county jail and Camp East Montana. Six additional infections have been confirmed among the public. Recent investigations showed that four of those community cases were facility employees from Hudspeth County who visited high-traffic areas, including a local hospital, several eateries and shopping centers, prior to being diagnosed.

State medical experts noted that the staff members from the Sierra Blanca facility no longer pose a threat to the public, as they are no longer considered contagious. 

Although El Paso maintains a high immunization rate of roughly 98%, health advocates remain concerned about how quickly the virus can move through crowded living environments.

Despite the surge in numbers at the Hudspeth County location, the Texas Department of State Health Services has stopped short of declaring a formal outbreak for that specific site.

Historical measles trends

  • In 2025, Texas saw the largest number of confirmed measles cases since 1992, when 990 cases were reported in one outbreak. Texas reported a total of 1,097 cases in 1992.
  • Before 1963, the U.S. had about 500,000 reported measles cases and 500 measles deaths per year. There were epidemic cycles every two to three years. However, experts estimate that the actual number of infections was 3-4 million annually.
  • Measles was common in children:More than half of children had measles by age 6.More than 9 in 10 had it by age 15.
  • More than half of children had measles by age 6.
  • More than 9 in 10 had it by age 15.
  • After the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, cases dropped by more than 95 percent, and the two-to-three-year epidemic cycles stopped.
  • Between 1985 and 1988, two-thirds of school-aged measles cases were in children who had received only one dose of the vaccine.
  • In 1989, the CDC began recommending a second MMR dose to provide better protection.
  • From 2000 to 2024, most cases were related to international travel.

The Source: Information in this article is from the City of El Paso, El Paso Public Health, Texas Department of State Health Services and previous FOX Local reporting.

TexasMeaslesHealthImmigration