In light of Texas’ 2025 measles outbreak, the Houston Health Department (HHD) is taking proactive steps with a tabletop exercise on Nov. 6 to address infectious disease preparedness and communication.
Titled “Ready. Set. Respond. The Measles Exercise,” the interactive event will examine what an outbreak looks like, how physicians and healthcare entities respond, and what information can and should be shared between jurisdictions to keep everyone safe.
“TMA member physicians need to be thinking this way: the measles patient can come to you from anywhere,” said Janeana White, MD, HHD’s chief medical officer and member of TMA’s Committee on Infectious Diseases.
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The exercise comes about three months after the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) alerted to four measles cases in neighboring Montgomery County. All four cases were in the same family and traced to a person who traveled to Texas from out of state, according to DSHS.
DSHS announced the Montgomery County cases on July 29, and HHD officials sprang into action immediately with proactive monitoring and data analysis of local schools.
“What could we do to mitigate it if it rolled into our jurisdiction?” said Rod Garrett, HHD’s Division Manager for Public Health Emergency Preparedness. “We had a real-world event that was being monitored ... and it just really made sense to fold that into a tabletop based on some of our regional monitoring and neighboring monitoring.”
Since measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, many younger physicians have never seen a case in person, Dr. White says. Part of the exercise is identifying what the infection may look like.
“We’re using it as an educational opportunity, not to shame and make people feel bad about it,” Dr. White said.
John Fleming, a senior staff analyst at HHD, says physicians can make a difference to vaccine-hesitant communities.
“They still very much listen to their personal physicians, their personal healthcare providers, and they trust what [physicians] have to say,” Mr. Fleming said.
Texas health department leaders emphasize that even a simple, personal interaction like asking how a patient is feeling during an outbreak can build trust. For instance, sharing, “measles is spreading in the area. Are you OK?”
HHD analysts find that when physicians spend time educating patients on the pros and cons of vaccines, “they’re usually the ones that can convince them when it’s appropriate to get the vaccines.” Mr. Fleming said.
To register for the exercise, please see HHD’s registration page. For more information about vaccines, see TMA’s Vaccines page.