Kentucky has announced its first confirmed measles case since at least 2023, making the state part of a growing outbreak in the U.S. The announcement came the same day Texas health officials announced the death of an unvaccinated child, marking the first measles-related death in the country since 2015.

When the local hospital warned of a brewing measles outbreak, Kaleigh Brantner urged fellow residents of this rural West Texas community to beware of vaccinating their children. Two weeks later, her unvaccinated 7-year-old son came home from school with a fever.

Before the pandemic, the rate of kindergarten students who received their measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination had reached just over 98% statewide, but dropped to 95.1% amid the pandemic.