Over the past month, Dallas-Fort Worth has seen the rise of several infectious diseases, including measles, salmonella and cyclosporiasis. Epidemiologists are still investigating these diseases and how they’re spreading across Dallas.
A debrief on the new disease in town: measles
On Aug. 25, Dallas County Human and Health Services confirmed the first case of measles this year. There was only one confirmed case of measles in 2025, but before then, DCHHS had not seen a case of the disease since 2019. As of publication, the 2026 case count is still one.
DCHHS officials are unaware as to whether the patient had received the MMR vaccine, the vaccine administered to protect against measles, mumps and rubella. They have confirmed that the patient visited three locations while infectious: a chapel in Allen, a restaurant in Fairview and a tavern in Frisco. While all locations are in Collin County, their county health department has not yet reported any confirmed cases.
According to DCHHS epidemiology program planner Sima Bordbar, health officials have been leading efforts to reach out to persons potentially exposed to measles.
“Dallas County is working with the other local jurisdictions to ensure that all exposures are being monitored,” Bordbar said. “Anybody who is identified as a potential exposure — we’re going through the process of notifications and setting them up for monitoring so we’re doing everything that we can … to make sure that there’s no nobody left unaware if they were at risk.”
Dallas is not the only county seeing measles again. Across the United States, measles cases have risen to over 2,900 so far, breaking the record of the highest measles cases in a year since 1991. Director of DCHHS Dr. Philip Huang stated that at this rate, “probably in November … the United States is going to lose its measles elimination status.”
Both Huang and Bordbar attribute this rise in cases to the downtrend of vaccination rates over the past few years. Huang noted that media and local ICE presence are a likely contributor to this decrease.
“It’s just very concerning, the mixed messaging coming out about vaccinations and various factors,” Huang said. “We’ve, in our own community, just heard a lot of concerns with ICE and coming out to get these services [vaccinations] and things, and so we’re seeing drops in our vaccination rates.”
What’s up with the salmonella outbreaks and food recalls?
On July 22, the FDA issued a recall on eggs produced at Midwest Poultry Services which were sold under multiple brand names, including Kroger and Simple Truth. Despite the connection made between these eggs and salmonella, the number of salmonella cases stayed consistent with past years during this particular season. The number of cases for August has not been confirmed yet, but is minimally more than the confirmed number of cases in August 2025.
Recent weeks have seen dozens of food recalls, causing people to fear purchasing certain foods and often avoid them altogether. Health officials note that while the list itself may be long, what is seen on social media is a misrepresentation of reality. If concerned, Bordbar recommends people check the FDA website for what food recalls may truly apply to people instead of avoiding certain foods altogether.
“Pay attention to what states it was distributed to, and if your state is not on that list, you’re fine,” Bordbar said. “Again, that may change, so keep an eye on things. You can look at lists of all the active recalls, and I think that’s going to be an easier way to determine your level of risk.”
Is cyclospora still around?
As of Sept. 1, there have been 60 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis in Dallas County. According to Bordbar, there has been a downtrend in reported cases recently. This is expected by health officials, as June 1 to Aug. 31 is the official cyclospora season in the U.S.
“It’s been at least a couple weeks since we’ve received our last report of a cyclo[sporiasis] case,” Bordbar said. “That doesn’t mean that we won’t get any more, but that is a really good sign considering how fast they were coming in earlier in the summer.”
This is a breaking news story. The Retrograde will provide updates on disease outbreaks in Dallas-Fort Worth as they emerge.