The False Alarm on Rubella in Texas Was a Warning Shot — And We Should Pay Attention

Known as “German measles,” rubella is yet another one of those viruses that gives epidemiologists nightmares.

In January 2025, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported an outbreak of measles centered around Gaines County, in the western part of the state. The outbreak spread from there to a bordering county in the state of New Mexico, and to several counties in Texas. But there was a report of a disease that keeps me up at night: Rubella.

If you’re familiar with the MMR vaccine, then you know that the “R” in MMR is for rubella, a viral disease caused by the rubivirus and often called “German measles.” It used to be endemic in most of the world, meaning that transmission was constantly happening. This was the time before the vaccine.

Worst of all, the disease caused a condition in newborn children called Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS), and it was often deadly. In fact, a large pandemic of rubella in the 1960s resulted in many women choosing to end their pregnancies if they developed rubella. By some accounts, that pandemic triggered the strong discussions on abortion that happened in the United States in the 1960s and 70s.