United States: Doctors from New Mexico State Health announced an unvaccinated adult became infected with measles before passing away. 

The patient would become the second measles fatality of 2025, thus representing the second American measles death in ten years next to an unvaccinated school-aged person who passed away during late February within the West Texas outbreak area, causing 160 identified infections. 

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The recent measles outbreak has reached its largest dimensions in the United States since 2019 and is spreading to eastern New Mexico. 

The deceased New Mexico resident did not receive medical attention prior to death, and doctors confirmed their body contained measles virus infections through laboratory tests, according to state Health Department news statements, as USA Today reported. 

A review of the deceased individual’s death exists as part of the investigation process. Additional details regarding the deceased person remained undisclosed by state health officials even though healthcare authorities stated this new case did not belong to their previously identified nine individuals. 

What are the officials stating? 

New Mexico Health Department spokesperson David Morgan indicated that the state had not suffered from measles fatalities in at least 40 years based on CDC records, which started in 1985. 

According to Dr. Chad Smelser, the deputy state epidemiologist for New Mexico’s health department, “We don’t want to see New Mexicans getting sick or dying from measles,” USA Today reported. 

“The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best protection against this serious disease,” he continued. 

The complete New Mexico measles patient population consists of six grown-up patients and four adolescent patients under 17 years, and it exists within Lea County near Texas’ Gaines County. 

At least 22 patients need hospitalization at facilities across Texas. 

The New Mexico New Mexico resident who died was the tenth case from the state; however, they were the only patients from the Nm cases who passed away, while every other case didn’t need hospital admission. 

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United States: A lung disease known as tuberculosis (TB) started causing outbreaks in three geographic areas of Kansas City, Kansas, in January 2024 and has not ended early in March 2025. 

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A total of 147 individuals have received reported TB diagnoses in the outbreak, and 67 individuals developed sicknesses. 

People who received TB diagnosis in Kansas experienced latent infections as they had the illness, but their bodies did not manifest symptoms. 

Worldwide, TB stood as the top infectious disease mortality until COVID-19 surpassed it at the beginning of the pandemic. 

The tuberculosis outbreak, which started in January 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas, and its surrounding two neighboring counties, persists until early March 2025. 

Spread of the disease 

The reported cases of tuberculosis within the outbreak reached 147 people, while tuberculous infection led to severe illness in 67 patients. 

Of those diagnosed with TB in Kansas, 80 persons received a diagnosis because they had contracted the illness without experiencing any symptoms, theconversation.com reported. 

This medical condition leads to latent TB.TB remains the primary infectious cause of global mortality since COVID-19 took precedence only during the 2024–27 pandemic period. 

People without proper TB treatment have a 50% risk of dying from an active infection while receiving therapeutic care reduces the mortality rate to 12 percent. 

One of the boldest descriptions of TB uses the term “the king’s evil.” When the infection causes neck swelling and lesions, it results in a condition called scrofula, theconversation.com reported. 

People during the Middle Ages expected that royal physical contact could offer divine healing against this tuberculosis variation. 

United States: The frequency of dysentery infections reaching intolerable levels in Oregon caused 40 new cases in Portland in just January. 

According to Oregon Live, 158 people in Multnomah County developed the illness in 2024, and all of them remained within state borders, indicating they contracted it within the US. 

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Out of the total 40 confirmed cases, health officials disclosed to the news outlet their belief that homeless individuals accounted for many uncounted dysentery cases throughout the city. 

According to Dr. Amanda Risser, a senior medical director for the health care and housing services agency Central City Concern, “Any situation where [you are] unable to wash your hands regularly will put you at risk for [the bacteria which causes dysentery] shigella, and I think unsheltered homelessness certainly contributes to people just really not having places to do that,” people.com reported. 

The number of dysentery cases reported in Multnomah County has been progressively rising since 2012, according to KOIN, which describes 2023 as the year when outbreaks in the region peaked. 

The annual cases surged in 2023 as the count increased from 43 the previous year to 96 in 2023. 

Rising menace in the state 

The bacterial infection attained statewide fame because it appeared in the 1980s video game Oregon Trail, which told players they “died from dysentery” while the illness can lead to dehydration symptoms. 

The serious illness shigellosis “spreads easily” yet beyond its humor, is a condition that displays symptoms including frequent diarrhea that can be bloody along with fever and stomach pain, according to the US Centers for Disease Control, people.com reported. 

Furthermore, similar to norovirus, “Shigella germs are in poop, so anything that gets contaminated by poop can potentially spread the germs,” the CDC mentioned. 

The reported spread of dysentery might stem from inadequate bathroom access, according to OL, which documents a total of only 116 restrooms throughout the city, although many facilities become unavailable during high temperatures or nighttime hours because of frozen pipe risk. 

The statistic shows that more than 11,000 locals experience homelessness based on a June 2024 Multnomah County report. 

The Multnomah County strains of dysentery currently show resistance against antibiotic treatments, according to reports by OL.