{"id":9952,"date":"2025-03-01T09:11:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T01:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=9952"},"modified":"2025-03-01T09:11:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T01:11:56","slug":"thousands-possibly-exposed-to-measles-in-texas-as-outbreak-grows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=9952","title":{"rendered":"‘Thousands’ possibly exposed to measles in Texas as outbreak grows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The West Texas measles outbreak continues to grow, now possibly spreading into the central part of the state and neighboring New Mexico, health officials said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed there have been 146 cases of the highly contagious virus since the outbreak, centered in Gaines County, began in late January. Twenty people have been hospitalized and one child has died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parts of Central Texas have been monitoring for measles cases ever since an infected person traveled from Gaines County to San Marcos and San Antonio over Valentine\u2019s Day weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The person visited the University of Texas at San Antonio campus and a variety of restaurants and convenience stores like Buc-ee\u2019s in other areas near the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very possible that this person could have come in contact with, if not hundreds, thousands of our community residents, as well as visitors,\u201d Anita Kurian, San Antonio Metropolitan Health District Deputy Director of Communicable Disease, said at a media briefing Friday. \u201cWe are a destination city. We have real great concern of potential large community wide exposures at these public sites.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate briefing Friday, Katherine Wells, director of public health for Lubbock\u2019s health department, said most of the community is vaccinated, although because measles is so contagious, they are reaching out to families and closely monitoring schools for more infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do expect to see additional cases,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m very nervous about getting a measles case in a school or a day care. We are closely monitoring that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Ronald Cook, chief health officer at both the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock and the city\u2019s Health Authority, cautioned that people may not know if they\u2019ve been exposed. The incubation period is seven to 14 days. The earliest symptoms are a cough, a runny nose and conjunctivitis, or red, watery eyes, followed by sore spots in the mouth and a high fever of 103-104 degrees. A rash typically begins on the scalp or face and works its way down the body, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People are infectious \u201cfrom four days before the rash appears until four days after the rash,\u201d said Cook. \u201cThen it\u2019s another 10 days to get over the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurian said her office is getting up to 80 calls a day from people who are concerned about their exposure to measles in San Antonio. It could be at least a week until cases reveal themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe expect to see any cases coming out of these exposures by March 8,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most or all of the hospitalized patients have been children. Kids who have been admitted are either extremely dehydrated or are having serious trouble breathing, Cook said during the briefing Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small children have tiny airways that can\u2019t easily handle the massive amounts of inflammation caused by measles, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the cases are unvaccinated children, including a school-age child who died on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measles cases in the U.S.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Health officials are also trying to figure out if nine measles cases in neighboring New Mexico, announced previously, are linked to the Texas outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cases unrelated to the current outbreak have also popped up in Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City and Rhode Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origin of the West Texas outbreak, which is believed to have started within a close-knit Mennonite community, is unknown, Wells said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to have an answer anytime soon,\u201d she said, noting that other outbreaks in recent years have come from \u201ca U.S. citizen or someone traveling out of the country and bringing it back in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world, it\u2019s controlled by widespread use of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) in a population. Two doses of the shot are 97% effective in preventing the disease, and the vast majority of U.S. kids get them as the CDC has long recommended: one dose around age 1, and another around age 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As vaccine hesitancy has increased over time, fewer kids are getting their shots. The vaccine exemption rate in Gaines County was nearly 18% for the 2023-24 school year, according to health department data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no vaccine mandates or forced quarantines in the communities affected by the current measles outbreak. There is, however, free testing and vaccinations being offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe learned lots of lessons during Covid,\u201d Cook said. \u201cWe can\u2019t force anybody to take a drug. That\u2019s assault.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cook said he expects the outbreak will grow in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a huge wildfire,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a smoldering fire, a tumbleweed fire, for a while until we finally get it stopped and put out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted its first public statement about the outbreak. According to the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services is \u201cproviding technical assistance, laboratory support, vaccines, and therapeutic medication as needed to the Texas Department of State and Health Services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CDC said that vaccination \u201cremains the best defense against measles infection.\u201d Early in the outbreak, state health authorities in Texas asked for 2,000 extra doses of the MMR vaccine, which were provided by the CDC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no specific treatment or antiviral drug for measles. Doctors mainly try to keep patients hydrated and help them get enough oxygen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The West Texas measles outbreak continues to grow, now possibly spreading into the central part of the state and neighboring New Mexico, health officials said Friday. The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed there have been 146 cases of the highly contagious virus since the outbreak, centered in Gaines County, began in late January. 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