Growing Measles Outbreak Linked To Religious Schools

The Austin Statesman reports:

A fast-growing measles outbreak has infected dozens in Texas and New Mexico as officials suspect the highly contagious disease continues to spread.

In just two weeks, an outbreak in West Texas jumped from two cases among unvaccinated children in Gaines County to 49 people across four counties, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. All cases are among people, mostly children, who weren’t vaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. More than a dozen people have been hospitalized for measles as of Friday.

Texas officials warned that cases will likely rise, accelerating the state’s largest outbreak in nearly 30 years. Measles can be fatal, especially for young children, pregnant individuals, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.

The Associated Press reports:

The cases have been concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community, Texas Department of State Health Services spokesperson Lara Anton said. Gaines County is highly rural, so many of the families send their children to small private schools or are homeschooled, Anton said.

“The church isn’t the reason that they’re not vaccinated,” Anton said. “It’s all personal choice and you can do whatever you want. It’s just that the community doesn’t go and get regular health care.”

Anton said the state is working with local health officials to increase screening and vaccination efforts. Health officials are also working to educate school officials on identifying measles symptoms and encouraging families to vaccinate their kids.

NBC News reports:

Gaines County is the epicenter of the current measles outbreak. It’s located in a vast, flat region filled with ranchers and peanut and cotton farmers. There’s also a large Mennonite population, a religious sect that believes in “total separation from the outside world,” according to the Texas State Historical Association. These Mennonites chose to settle in Gaines County, in part, for its lack of regulation on private schools. This includes vaccine mandates.

As of the 2023-24 school year, Gaines County had one of the state’s highest vaccine exemption rates, at nearly 18%, according to health department data. State lawmakers have filed more than 20 bills so far this legislative session aimed at weakening vaccination mandates. One proposal would even amend the Texas Constitution to preserve a Texans’ right to refuse vaccination.

A local health official in the video report below laments that those so-far affected “just don’t believe” in the vaccine. According to the report, the number of cases may now be “as many as 200 to 300.”