Other states with active outbreaks – which the CDC defines as three or more related cases – include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
New York: Texas’ measles outbreak shows signs of slowing, with fewer than 10 newly reported cases in the last week, but experts say it’s not fully over. “This outbreak does appear to be leveling off, but the affected states remain hypervigilant, and that’s because it’s travel season,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention incident manager Dr. Manisha Patel said Thursday of the southwestern outbreak, which also affects New Mexico and Oklahoma. “There is a lot of global measles activity right now.”
Across the U.S., there are 1,024 confirmed measles cases as of Friday – an increase of 23 in a week. Texas still accounts for the vast majority of cases.
There are three other major outbreaks in North America. One in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 1,622 cases from mid-October through May 13, which rose by 182 cases in a week. Another in Alberta, Canada, has sickened 409 as of Thursday.
And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 1,306 measles cases and one death as of Friday, according to data from the state health ministry.
Since the outbreak in the Southwest U.S. began, two elementary school-aged children in the epicenter in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico have died of measles. All were unvaccinated.
Other states with active outbreaks – which the CDC defines as three or more related cases – include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S.
How many measles cases are there in Texas? There are a total of 718 cases across 32 counties, most of them in West Texas, state health officials said Friday. The state confirmed only one more case since its update Tuesday.
Hospitalizations were steady at 93 throughout the outbreak.
State health officials estimated about 1 per cent of cases – fewer than 10 – are actively infectious. Fifty-seven percent of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has had 406 cases since late January – just over 1.7 per cent of the county’s residents.
