Measles cases continue to rise in Texas; nearly 200 reported this year

HOUSTON – Health officials are reporting more cases of measles in Texas.

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The Texas Department of State Health Services reported the updated number on its website saying 198 cases have been identified since late January. 23 of the patients have been hospitalized.

The virus has largely spread through rural, oil rig-dotted West Texas, with cases concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community, state health department spokesperson Lara Anton has said.

Recently, the Houston Health Department held a town hall with nearly 500 clinicians to discuss what to look for in potential measles cases and how to report them. Two samples were tested, but they were confirmed negative.

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This all comes a month after an unvaccinated child in West Texas was the first person to die from the virus in a decade.

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