ZAPOPAN, Mexico (AP) — The Mexican state of Jalisco on Thursday issued a health alert and mandated the use of face masks in schools as a measles outbreak hit the state capital, a key host city for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The measures come on the heels of an epidemiological alert issued by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) earlier this week over the spread of the preventable disease across the Americas, particularly in Mexico, which leads the region with 1,981 cases confirmed by authorities this year and more than 5,200 suspected cases.
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A health worker administers a dose of the measles vaccine outside a public hospital in Mexico City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
A health worker administers a dose of the measles vaccine outside a public hospital in Mexico City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Parents of students wear face masks, made mandatory amid a measles outbreak, as they wait outside of a public school in Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano
Public school students and teachers wear mandatory face masks amid a measles outbreak, during a ceremony at their school in Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Jalisco is the epicenter of the outbreak, with 1,163 cases confirmed this year and 2,092 suspected cases, according to Mexico's government.
The measles outbreak in Mexico began last year in the northern state of Chihuahua, after a Mennonite child fell ill while visiting relatives in a region in Texas that was suffering an outbreak. Cases surged in Mennonite communities — which have high rates of vaccine hesitancy — and have rippled out across Mexico in the country's biggest outbreak in decades.
Scientists say rising outbreaks across the hemisphere are linked to declining vaccination rates. Mauricio Rodríguez, a microbiology professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico focused on epidemics, that cases have shot up in Mexico in particular because many communities in the country don't have their full immunization schedule against measles.
That poses a heightened risk over the summer as the United States, Mexico and Canada – all which have seen rising measles cases – host visitors from across the world, he said.
"With the World Cup, many people are going to be visiting from outside (Mexico) and that represents a risk of introducing even more outbreaks from other places, Rodríguez said.
Guadalajara is one of the main venues in Mexico for the soccer tournament.
In an effort to rein in cases, Jalisco health authorities announced Thursday that masks will be required in Guadalajara schools across seven specific neighborhoods for the next 30 days.
Jalisco was the first Mexican state to take such measures as medical groups urged the local government to take urgent action, marking the country’s first such public health mandate since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Classes were also recently suspended in 15 schools in Jalisco and the central state of Aguascalientes due to outbreaks of the highly contagious airborne virus.
On Thursday, students and teachers in areas surrounding Guadalajara showed up to classes masks and long lines would through vaccination centers set up in local government buildings.
Ángel Ivan Soto Mendez and his family were among those waiting to get a shot, and said they had already prepared for their kids to go to school with masks and disinfectant.
“If everyone doesn't get vaccinated, there are going to be infections everywhere,” he said.
Canada lost its measles-free status in November and the U.S. and Mexico face the risk of meeting the same fate. Both governments have requested a two-month extension to try to control the outbreak, although in January the Trump administration withdrew from the World Health Organization, under whose umbrella PAHO operates.
In the first three weeks of this year, 1,031 additional measles cases were confirmed in seven countries in the Americas with no deaths reported — a figure 43 times higher than that recorded in the same period last year — PAHO said Wednesday in a statement.
The Mexican government has spent weeks encouraging the population to get vaccinated against the measles, which is preventable with two doses of the vaccine, and announced the launch of vaccination sites in places such as airports and bus stations.
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Associated Press journalists Fabiola Sánchez and Megan Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City. Pesce reported from Mexico City.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
A health worker administers a dose of the measles vaccine outside a public hospital in Mexico City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
A health worker administers a dose of the measles vaccine outside a public hospital in Mexico City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Parents of students wear face masks, made mandatory amid a measles outbreak, as they wait outside of a public school in Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano
Public school students and teachers wear mandatory face masks amid a measles outbreak, during a ceremony at their school in Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
NEW YORK (AP) — Sharp drops hit Wall Street as technology stocks sank even more and bitcoin’s price plunged again to roughly half its record set in the fall. Several discouraging reports on the U.S. job market also knocked down yields in the bond market on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 1.2% for its sixth loss in the seven days since it set an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.6%. Bitcoin fell below $65,000, while gold and silver prices resumed their sharp slides. Stock indexes also fell across much of Europe and Asia.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — More drops for technology stocks are yanking the U.S. market lower on Thursday, while bitcoin's price dropped by nearly half from its record set last fall. Yields are also sinking in the bond market following discouraging news on the U.S. job market.
The S&P 500 fell 1.1% and is heading toward its sixth loss in the seven days since it set an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 483 points, or 1%, as of 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% lower.
Alphabet helped drag the market lower after falling 1.4%, even though the parent company of Google, YouTube and other businesses reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on how much Alphabet is spending on artificial-intelligence technology and questioned whether it will all prove worth it.
Alphabet said its spending on equipment and other investments could double this year to roughly $180 billion. That blew past analysts’ expectations of less than $119 billion, according to FactSet.
In the bond market, Treasury yields sank after a report said the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits jumped last week by more than economists expected. That could be a signal that the pace of layoffs is accelerating.
Some economists suggested last week’s rise could be statistical noise, and the total number remains relatively low compared with history. But a separate report said that layoffs announced by U.S.-based employers surged last month. The 108,435 was the highest number for a month since October, according to global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
For a January, it’s the worst since 2009.
A third report from the U.S. government said that employers were advertising the lowest number of job openings in December in more than five years.
Weakness in the job market could push the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to support the economy, even if it also risks worsening inflation. Treasury yields fell across the board in response.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.20% from 4.29% late Wednesday. That's a notable move for the bond market.
The moves were even sharper in commodities markets.
Silver’s price dropped 9.1% in its latest wild swing since its record-breaking momentum suddenly halted last week.
Gold’s price fell 1.2% to settle at $4,889.50 per ounce. It’s been careening back and forth since roughly doubling in price over 12 months. It neared $5,600 last week and then fell below $4,500 on Monday.
Both gold and silver had been screaming higher as investors piled into places they thought would be safer amid worries about political turmoil, a U.S. stock market that critics called expensive and huge debt loads for governments worldwide. But nothing can keep rising at such extreme rates forever, and critics had been calling for a pullback.
Bitcoin, which is pitched as “digital gold,” also sank. It dropped toward $65,000, down from its record above $124,000 set in October.
The tumbling prices dragged down stocks of companies enmeshed in the crypto industry. Coinbase Global, the crypto trading platform, dropped 10.5%. Strategy, which has made a business of buying and holding bitcoin, tumbled 14.5%.
Outside of crypto, Qualcomm fell 8% even though the chip company topped analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. Its forecast for profit in the current quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations as an industrywide shortage of memory pushes some handset makers to cut back on orders.
Estee Lauder also topped Wall Street targets, and it raised some of its financial forecasts for the full fiscal year. But analysts said investors may have been expecting even more, as the company shepherds through its turnaround efforts and the punishing effects of tariffs. The New York cosmetic company’s shares sank 21.3%.
On the winning side of Wall Street were some companies that stand to benefit from big spending by Alphabet and other companies continuing the AI frenzy. Chip company Broadcom rose 1.8% and was the strongest force limiting the S&P 500’s losses.
McKesson jumped 18.1% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The health care company also raised its forecasted range for profit this fiscal year.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia.
London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.9% after the Bank of England held interest rates there steady. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.3%, and Germany’s DAX lost 0.5% after the European Central Bank likewise stood pat on interest rates.
South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3.9% for one of the world’s biggest moves and dropped from its all-time high. Samsung Electronics dropped 5.8%, just two days after it had surged 11.4%.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Trader Robert FInnerty Jr. works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Joseph Stevens, foreground, works with colleagues on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency traders watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Anthony Matesic works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
