The measles outbreak in west Texas and New Mexico is continuing to grow, with the number of cases in Texas alone approaching the number of confirmed measles cases in the entire country last year. Texas officials said Tuesday that another 20 cases had been confirmed, bringing the total to 279, ABC News reports. Health officials in New Mexico have reported 38 cases as of Tuesday, reports the Houston Chronicle. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 285 confirmed measles cases in the US last year. In an update Friday, before the latest numbers from Texas and New Mexico, the CDC said 301 cases had been confirmed this year in 32 states and Washington, DC.
Nearly all of the new Texas cases were reported in Gaines County, which borders New Mexico, and all 20 cases were in unvaccinated people, Fox 4 reports. The CDC says most of the cases reported nationally were in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. According to the CDC, 3% of the cases were in people who received one dose of the two-dose MMR vaccine and 2% were in people who received both doses.
According to the latest Texas Department of State Health Services data, most measles cases in the outbreak are among children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17, with 120 cases reported, ABC News reports. Another 88 cases have been reported in children 4 and younger. The death of a 6-year-old boy in the Texas outbreak was the country's first measles death in a decade. An adult who died in New Mexico earlier this month tested positive for measles, but officials haven't confirmed whether the death is linked to the outbreak. (Health experts have warned against holding "measles parties.")
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