EU leaders hold their first summit with Central Asian states

The leaders of the European Union and five Central Asian countries held their first summit on Friday and declared a new strategic partnership to boost trade and other ties.

The summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan is attended by European Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Costa declared that “the European Union is eager to build a mutually beneficial partnership with Central Asia, one that goes beyond expectations.”

Von der Leyen said that the summit is set to “deepen trade ties and expand cooperation in transport, critical raw materials, digital connectivity, water and energy.” She announced a 12 billion-euro ($13.2 billion) Gateway Investment Package to increase cooperation in transport, critical raw materials, clean energy and digital connectivity.

Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said hat during the past seven years trade between Central Asian and EU countries has increased to 54 billion euros ($60 billion), adding that the summit “should become the starting point of a new stage in the development of multi-faceted relations.”

In this photo released by Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office, European Council President Antonio Costa, left, and Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, pose for a photo prior the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo released by Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, right, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, pose for a photo prior the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)

This photo released by Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office, offers a view of the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo released by Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office, from left: Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, European Council President Antonio Costa, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov pose for a photo prior the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo released by Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, arrives to attend the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo released by Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, center, European Council President Antonio Costa, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, pose for a photo prior the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo released by Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, center, European Council President Antonio Costa, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, pose for a photo prior the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo released by Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, right, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talk to each other prior to the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo released by Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office, from left: Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, European Council President Antonio Costa, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov pose for a photo prior the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)

A second school-aged child in West Texas has died from a measles-related illness, a hospital spokesman confirmed Sunday, as the outbreak continues to swell.

Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, said that the child was “receiving treatment for complications of measles while hospitalized” and was not vaccinated. The hospital declined to say which day the child died.

Neither the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor the Texas State Department of State Health Services include the death in their measles reports issued Friday. Spokespeople for the state health department and U.S. Health and Human Services Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.

A unvaccinated school-age child died of measles in February in Lubbock — the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade. In early March, an adult in New Mexico who was unvaccinated and did not seek medical care became the second measles-related death.

More than two months in, the West Texas outbreak is believed to have spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, sickening nearly 570 people. The World Health Organization also reported cases related to Texas in Mexico.

The number of cases in Texas shot up by 81 between March 28 and April 4, and 16 more people were hospitalized. A team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on the ground in Texas assisting with outbreak response.

Nationwide, the U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has delivered a tepid message on the importance of vaccination against measles, saying it should be encouraged while also sowing doubt in the vaccine’s safety. He is expected to launch a Make America Healthy Again tour across the southwestern U.S. early this week.

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has been used safely for more than 60 years and is 97% effective against measles after two doses.

Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s former vaccine chief, said responsibility for the death rests with Kennedy and his staff. Marks was forced out of the FDA after disagreements with Kennedy over vaccine safety.

“This is the epitome of an absolutely needless death,” Marks told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday. “These kids should get vaccinated — that’s how you prevent people from dying of measles.”

Marks also said he recently warned U.S. senators that more deaths would occur if the administration didn’t mount a more aggressive response to the outbreak. Kennedy has been called to testify before the Senate health committee on Thursday.

Experts and local health officials expect the outbreak to go on for several more months if not a year. In West Texas, the vast majority of cases are in unvaccinated people and children younger than 17.

With several states facing outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable disease, some worry that measles may cost the U.S. its status as having eliminated the disease.

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the CDC. The first shot is recommended for children ages 12 to 15 months, and the second for ages 4 to 6 years.

AP reporters Amanda Seitz and Matthew Perrone contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE - A sign is seen outside a clinic with the South Plains Public Health District, Feb. 23, 2025, in Brownfield, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)

FILE - A measles sign is seen at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Feb. 25, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)