Texas Measles Outbreak Soars To Nearly 200 Cases

The Texas Tribune reports:

The number of measles cases has risen to 198 as the historical outbreak continues to rage on in West Texas, according to state officials on Friday. Of those, 23 patients are hospitalized.

As of Friday, most of the measles cases – 137 – were centered in Gaines County, about 400 miles west of Dallas on the New Mexico border. Last week, Texas officials reported that an unvaccinated, otherwise healthy school-aged child died from measles, the first death from the virus in a decade; the family lives in the outbreak area.

The West Texas measles outbreak — the largest in the state in 30 years — has spread from two cases in late January and now includes nine counties, most of them in the rural South Plains region. The virus has also spread into eastern New Mexico. Gaines County has a large Mennonite community that has traditionally had low vaccination rates.

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