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Cases of the highly contagious measles virus continue to rise in Texas and across the US, as the country’s top health official promotes treatments that are not supported by health experts.

So far this year, the US has recorded more than 250 cases of measles in several states, including Oklahoma, Alaska, California, Georgia, Florida, New York, Kentucky and Rhode Island.

The epicentre remains in West Texas and neighboring New Mexico, where two unvaccinated people have died from the virus.

This comes as Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. continues to focus on unproven treatments such as cod liver oil and cast doubt on the safety of vaccines.

The BBC has contacted the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for comment.

Measles is a dangerous virus that has no cure and can lead to a range of complications, including pneumonia and brain swelling. It can be deadly.

Vaccination rates need to be 95% or higher for the general population to be protected, but several communities where the virus is spreading have rates well below that.

The US declared measles eliminated in 2000, but outbreaks have continued to emerge in recent years as anti-vaccine sentiment has grown.

Health officials say cases have shown no signs of slowing in West Texas, where two pregnant women recently reported infections.

Across the state border, New Mexico now has more than 30 cases, while new infections were confirmed in Oklahoma, New York and Los Angeles this week.

In several cases, unvaccinated Americans have spread measles to others after contracting the virus abroad, including on Long Island, N.Y., where a baby contracted the virus while traveling with family, health officials say. Cases are also rising in Canada, which has reported 146 infections. So far, Kennedy has offered mixed messages about the outbreaks. At first, he suggested that the surge in cases was “not unusual” in the U.S., before backtracking and calling the situation “serious.” Then, in an interview with Fox News this week, Kennedy suggested that cod liver oil and other alternative treatments for measles have proven to be “miracle workers.” The comments are resonating with some West Texas residents, said Ron Cook, a family physician and health official who is helping doctors respond to the outbreak in Lubbock, where a child died of measles this month. There, a handful of doctors are handing out cod liver oil to parents of sick children who are skeptical about measles immunization, Dr. Cook said. One doctor told NBC News that he was just trying to help families with the alternative treatment “like Bobby Kennedy is trying to do.” Vitamin A — a nutrient found in cod liver oil — is sometimes offered as part of a measles treatment, especially if someone is deficient, Dr. Cook said. But, he added, it is difficult to monitor levels of the vitamin in cod liver oil, which could put children at risk if they get too much of the vitamin or other nutrients it contains. “The thing that disappoints me the most is that they are not talking about the vaccine,” Dr. Cook said. He said he believes it was a missed opportunity to engage with vaccine-skeptical communities to help slow the spread of measles. Kennedy this week offered a conditional endorsement of the vaccine, telling Fox News that it was “recommended” for the Texas Mennonite community — the source of the outbreak — while suggesting that some children have been harmed by the vaccines, which have been extensively studied and found to be safe. This week, Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit founded by Kennedy, updated and re-promoted a 2021 book in which Kennedy called measles vaccines “risky.” “Measles outbreaks have been manufactured to create fear that in turn forces government officials to ‘do something,’” he said, adding that the vaccine’s benefits have been “overstated.”