A child who was not vaccinated has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month and the first from measles in the U.S. since 2015.
The death was a “school-aged child who was not vaccinated” and had been hospitalized last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Wednesday in a statement. Lubbock health officials also confirmed the death, but neither agency provided more details.
The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 124 cases across nine counties, the state health department said Tuesday. That is more than double the number of cases reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services last week.
There are also nine cases in eastern New Mexico.
Officials in a county in North Texas confirmed a case on Wednesday but said they don't believe it's related to the ongoing outbreak in the western part of the state.
A health official in Rockwall County — a small area located just northeast of Dallas — said in a social media statement the new case involves an adult and all of their direct contacts have been notified for observations.
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“The loss of a child is a tragedy” and Gov. Greg Abbott and his wife are praying for “the family, loved ones and the entire Lubbock community,” Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris said. He added that the governor's office is in “regular communication” with the state health department, that epidemiologists and vaccination teams are in the “affected area," and that there are “daily situation updates and coordination calls” with local health officials.
“The state will deploy all necessary resources to ensure the safety and health of Texans,” Mahaleris said.
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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 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most kids will recover from measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death — particularly in children under five years old.
The outbreak is largely spreading in the Mennonite community in the South Plains region of the state. It's an area where small towns are separated by vast stretches of oil rig-dotted open land but connected due to people traveling between towns for work, church, grocery shopping and other day-to-day errands.
Health officials say the best way to keep from getting sick is to be immunized with two doses of the measles vaccine. In the Texas outbreak, officials said very few of the patients have been vaccinated.
Symptoms of measles include high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes and a rash. The CDC said these symptoms appear within a week or two after coming in contact with the virus.
