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Measles cases in Texas rise to 505, state health department says

(Reuters) — The Texas health department reported 505 cases of measles in the state on Tuesday, an increase of 24 cases from its previous count on April 4, as the United States battles an outbreak of the childhood disease that has spread across 22 states.

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An unvaccinated school-aged child, who had no underlying health conditions, died last week, marking the second fatality in the state due to measles, which spreads through the air when an infected person sneezes or coughs.

Cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, rose to 328 from 315 on Friday, Texas’ health department said. The state reported one additional hospitalization from the infection, bringing the total number to 57.

New Mexico reported two additional cases since its last update on Friday, taking the total number of infections in the state to 56. The state’s Chaves County also reported its first case of the year.

Most of New Mexico’s cases are from Lea County, which is adjacent to Gaines County in Texas.

The country’s health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Sunday that vaccines are the best protection against measles, despite being an anti-vaccine advocate who has declared that vaccination is a personal choice.

The vaccination rate in Gaines County is about 82%, below the 95% rate considered necessary to be protective for those who cannot be vaccinated.

As of April 4, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a nationwide total of 607 cases so far this year, more than double the overall cases reported last year.

WH on Elon Musk-Peter Navarro tariff tiff: ‘Boys will be boys’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — As Elon Musk called one of President Donald Trump’s top economic aides a “moron,” the White House on Tuesday declared that “boys will be boys.”

Musk and long-time Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro have been squabbling publicly over Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on most of its trading partners.

The move has triggered a market sell-off and prompted analysts to wonder if the United States is headed into a recession.

“Look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. “Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue.”

Navarro on Monday on CNBC had dismissed a push by billionaire and Tesla CEO Musk for “zero tariffs” between the United States and Europe, calling him a “car assembler” reliant on imported parts, and said he wanted the parts to be manufactured locally in the U.S. “Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false,” Musk said in a post on X in a response to a video clip of Navarro’s interview. “Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.” Navarro is widely seen as the architect of Trump’s wide-ranging tariff plans. The policy is intended to revive U.S. manufacturing and shore up national security but has hammered markets and thrown global supply chains into uncertainty.

Asked about the dust-up between the advisers, Leavitt said the public nature of the spat was evidence of the Trump administration’s transparency and Trump’s willingness to listen to diverse opinions.