Texas measles outbreak grows to 124 cases
A Texas measles outbreak grows to 124 cases, health officials said Tuesday. File Photo by Airman 1st Class Matthew Lotz/U.S. Air Force
A Texas measles outbreak has doubled in the last week to 124 cases, state health officials said Tuesday, a day after they warned a person infected with the highly contagious disease had traveled from the West Texas outbreak zone to San Antonio and San Marcos.
The officials said the health alert, first issued Monday, warns that a person with measles had traveled from the South Plains outbreak area to South and Central Texas before they knew they were infected.
The unidentified patient had traveled to San Marcos on Feb. 14 and visited a convenience store, Texas State University and a restaurant. On Feb. 15, the person was in San Antonio, where they visited the local campus of the University of Texas, several tourist attractions and a seafood restaurant.
A list of the locations the person visited and the times they were there is on the Texas Health and Human Services’ website.
State health officials say the virus can survive in the air for up to two hours, and because symptoms can begin seven to 21 days after exposure, they were sharing the information so unvaccinated people who also visited those locations can monitor their conditions.
Texas has been fighting an outbreak of the highly contagious virus in South Plains region since last month. As of Tuesday, health officials have identified 124 cases. Eighteen of the patients have been hospitalized.
On Feb. 18, 58 measles cases had been reported.
The virus has been spreading predominantly among unvaccinated children and youth in a state that permits children to be exempt from mandatory vaccines for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs.
According to state data, 80 of the infections have been reported in Gaines County where nearly 18% of K-12 students were exempt from at least one vaccine, making it one of the counties with the highest exemption rates in the state. At one school, nearly half of all students were exempted from at least one vaccine.
State officials said that of the 124 cases, only five were vaccinated, while the rest were either unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown.
Statistics show that 101 of the cases are those under the age of 18.
“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities,” DSHS said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that it has reported cases in Alaska, California, Georgia, new Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Rhode Island and Texas.
The CDC, which updates its figures every Friday, has a total of 93 cases listed on its website, 95% of which are either unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown.
Last year, there was a total of 285 measles cases.