Measles is spreading across West Texas. The county at the center has one of state’s highest vaccine exemption rates
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Two dozen cases of measles have been reported in a small West Texas county that has one of the state’s highest vaccine exemption rates.
In Gaines County, which has a population of about 22,000, 24 cases of the airborne infectious disease have been reported since late January. Most of them are unvaccinated, school-aged children.
Several people were hospitalized, according to the state’s health department, including two children in Lubbock, Texas, who have since been released.
“At this time, 24 cases have been identified with symptom onset within the last two weeks. Nine of the patients have been hospitalized. All of the cases are unvaccinated and residents of Gaines County,” the department said in a Tuesday update.
Some cases appear to be linked to private religious schools in the district, according to South Plains Public Health District Director Zach Holbrooks. Although, the investigation is ongoing.
“I wouldn’t say they’re all connected, but our teams are looking into exposure sites and the background of those cases,” he told The Associated Press on Monday.
Texas law allow children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience. That includes religious beliefs. In Gaines, nearly 14 percent of children from kindergarten through 12th grade had an exemption during the previous school year. Many children there are also homeschooled.
Earlier this month, health authorities had stressed that the spread was likely to continue.
One of the county’s cases had traveled to New Mexico while they were still infectious, but there have been no immediate reports of infection spread.
Symptoms of measles may include a high fever, a cough, a runny nose, and a rash that starts on the face but then extends to the rest of the body.
In response to the outbreak, measles vaccination clinics were set up for residents in the area.
“The best way to prevent getting sick is to be immunized with two doses of a vaccine against measles, which is primarily administered as the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine,” Texas health authorities said in a statement. “Two doses of the MMR vaccine are highly effective at preventing measles.”
The measles vaccine became available in the U.S. in 1963. In the decade before, nearly all children were infected by the time they were 15 years old. Up to 4 million Americans were infected each year. Widespread use of the vaccine markedly reduced disease rates in the 1970s and 1980s. After physicians recommended a second dose of vaccine for all children, cases fell even more. Coverage of 95 percent or greater of two doses of measles vaccine is needed to prevent outbreaks, and the vaccine is required to attend most public schools. By 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the U.S.
Nearly a quarter-century later, measles is still around. In 2019, the U.S. experienced its largest outbreak since 1992. Of the more than 1,200 cases reported that year, nearly 90 percent were in patients who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. In 2021, cases were all among children who were not fully vaccinated.
Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that cases were surging worldwide and that more than 100,000 children had died due to measles in 2023. Of those who contracted the virus, 40 percent were hospitalized, the majority of whom were under the age of five.
In 2024, an outbreak in Chicago sickened more than 60 people. This year, cases have also been reported in Alaska, Georgia, Rhode Island, and New York.
Measles can survive in the air for up to two hours, and up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if they have been exposed.
“Measles vaccine has saved more lives than any other vaccine in the past 50 years,” World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Despite pleas for community members to get vaccinated, Facebook users administered their doses of vaccine skepticism.
“Measles is a week long rash and then lifelong immunity that can be easily treated with Vitamin A. The MMR vaccine can cause lifelong autism, seizures or death. Surely people deserve to know the truth and not be feared/pressured into getting a vaccine … oh wait, silly me,” wrote Kelsey Williams.
Several people tried to pin the spread on migrants in Texas illegally.
The vaccine is not tied to autism and no deaths have been linked to the vaccines. There is a small increased risk for febrile seizures after the vaccines. They’re rare and not associated with any long-term effects. Severe allergic reactions are rare, but can be life-threatening. But, most people do not have any serious problems with the vaccine, and getting it is much safer than getting measles, mumps, or rubella.
Measles vaccination averted more than 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023.
With reporting from The Associated Press
