The outbreak of measles in West Texas is growing and may now spread across the central part of the state and neighbouring New Mexico, health officials said Friday.
The Texas Department of Health has confirmed that there have been 146 cases of the highly contagious virus since the outbreak, mainly in Gaines County, began in late January. Twenty people were hospitalized and one child died.
Parts of central Texas have been monitoring measles incidents since cases traveled from Gaines County to San Marcos and San Antonio over Valentine’s Day weekend.
This person has visited a variety of restaurants and convenience stores, such as Buc-EE, located at the University of Texas San Antonio campus, and other areas near the city.
“It’s very likely that this person has been able to communicate with hundreds and thousands of our community residents and visitors,” Anitakurian, assistant director of communication diseases at the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, said at a media briefing Friday. “We are destination cities. We have really great concerns about the potential large community-wide exposure on these public sites.”
In another briefing Friday, Katherine Wells, director of public health for Lubbock’s health department, said most communities are vaccinated, but that measles are so contagious that they are reaching out to families and closely monitor schools for more infections.
“We’re hoping to see additional cases,” she said. “I’m very nervous about getting a case of measles at school or at daycare. We’re closely monitoring that.”
Dr. Ronald Cook, chief health officer at the Texas Institute of Technology’s Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, and the city’s health department, warned that people may not know if people were exposed or not. Incubation period is 7-14 days. The earliest symptoms are cough, runny nose and conjunctivitis, or red, watery eyes, followed by pain in the mouth and a high fever of 103-104 degrees. The rash usually starts on the scalp and face and works down the body, he said.
People are infected. “From four days before the rash to four days after the rash,” Cook said. “After that, it’s another 10 days to overcome the illness.”
Kurian said her office makes up to 80 calls a day from people worried about being exposed to measles in San Antonio. It could take at least a week for the case to reveal itself.
“We expect cases to come out of these exposures by March 8th,” she said.
Most or all of the hospitalized patients were children. The children recognized are either very dehydrated or have serious breathing problems, Cook said during a briefing Friday.
He said young children have small airways that don’t easily deal with the enormous amount of inflammation caused by measles.
Most cases are unvaccinated children, including school-age children who died Wednesday.
Health officials are also trying to figure out whether nine previously announced measles incidents in neighbouring New Mexico are linked to the Texas outbreak.
Cases unrelated to the current outbreak also appeared in Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City and Rhode Island.
Wells said Friday the origin of the West Texas outbreak, which is believed to have started within the close Mennonite community, is unknown.
“We’re not going to get an answer anytime soon,” she said. Other outbreaks in recent years said, “Because a US citizen or someone has left the country and then returned.”
Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world, but is controlled by the widespread use of measles-mumpsulvera vaccine (MMR) in populations. Two doses of shots are 97% effective in preventing illness, and the majority of our children get them as the CDC has long recommended.
As vaccine hesitancy increases over time, fewer children get shots. Gaines County’s vaccine exemption rate was nearly 18% for the 2023-24 grade, according to health department data.
There are no vaccine orders or mandatory quarantines in communities affected by the current measles outbreak. However, free testing and vaccinations are offered.
“We learned a lot of lessons during Covid,” Cook said. “We can’t let anyone take medicine. It’s assault.”
Cook said he expects the outbreak to grow in the coming weeks.
“It’s not a huge wildfire,” he said. “It will be a smoldering fire, a tumbleweed fire for a while until it finally stops and is released.”
Late Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published its first official statement on the outbreak. According to the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services “provides technical assistance, lab support, vaccines and therapeutics to the Texas Department of State and the Department of Health Services, where necessary.”
The CDC said vaccinations “remained the best protection against measles infection.” Early in the outbreak, state health officials in Texas requested an extra 2,000 doses of the MMR vaccine provided by the CDC.
There are no specific treatments or antivirals for measles. Doctors primarily try to help patients stay hydrated and get enough oxygen.
