The Mexican state of Chihuahua’s health department reported 1,041 confirmed cases of measles in the border state on Friday.
That puts the state at around the same level as the whole of the United States, which just this week also passed 1,000 cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chihuahua borders Texas, which has experienced the worst of the outbreak in the United States.
Around half of all of the cases in Chihuahua have been reported in a single municipality, which has a large Mennonite community. Recent reporting from the Associated Press found a high rate of vaccine hesitancy among its residents.
According to the World Health Organization, Chihuahua’s outbreak far outpaces the relatively small number of cases seen in other Mexican states this year. The state’s first case, in February, was reported in an unvaccinated child.
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Cattle from Mexico have been barred from the United States for most the past year to prevent the parasite from entering. Ranchers in Sonora say this method was a mistake. -
Mexico’s foreign secretary says 14,000 Mexican nationals remain in immigration detention in the United States as Mexico pursues consular and legal action. -
The move comes after a nearly yearlong ban of Mexican cattle into the United States to protect against the New World screwworm parasite. -
The San Luis port of entry from Sonora, Mexico, is Arizona’s westernmost border crossing, and could see delays for four to five months starting later this month. -
No cases of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite have been reported in Arizona, but USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in the state has recommendations for ranchers to protect against it.
