New Mexico resident tests positive for measles after dying

An unvaccinated adult in New Mexico tested positive for measles after their death, health officials announced Thursday.

The New Mexico Department of Health said Thursday that the official cause of death is still under investigation, and the individual did not seek medical care before they died.

There has not been a measles death in New Mexico in at least 40 years, according to a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Health.

The deceased New Mexico resident who tested positive for measles lived in Lea County, which is just over the border from Gaines County, Texas, where a measles outbreak that is still underway has mainly been concentrated.

The first measles-related death from that outbreak was reported on Feb. 26 after a child in West Texas who was hospitalized due to the illness died. The Texas outbreak is primarily affecting children and teenagers, nearly all of whom were unvaccinated.

The largest outbreak so far this year has been in West Texas, where 159 cases have been identified since late January, with 22 of those patients requiring hospitalization,  according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. At least 10 cases of the disease have been reported in New Mexico.