CNN – The number of measles cases linked to an outbreak in West Texas has grown to 58, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Most of the cases are centered in Gaines County, which is reporting 45 cases.
The cases are mostly in children ages 5 to 17.
Although most of the cases are in unvaccinated people or those whose vaccination status is unknown, there were four cases of measles in people who said they had been vaccinated.
No other details were immediately available about those four people.
In all of the cases, symptoms began in the past three weeks. Thirteen of the people have been hospitalized.
Measles is an airborne illness that can cause rash, fever, red eyes and cough. Severe cases can result in blindness, pneumonia or encephalitis, swelling of the brain. In some cases, the illness can be fatal.
Coverage of the MMR vaccine is particularly low in Gaines County, where nearly 1 in 5 incoming kindergartners in the 2023-24 school year did not get the vaccine.
Of the eight total cases in Lea County, six are in unvaccinated people. The other two people believe they were vaccinated, according to Robert Nott, the state health department communications director. None of the eight has been hospitalized.
There were 285 measles cases reported in the US last year, the most since 2019, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …
