Measles Outbreak Reported Among Children in Texas

So far, 10 cases have been confirmed in Gaines County in the western part of the state, health officials say.

An undated image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Feb. 4, 2015, shows an electron microscope image of a measles virus particle (C). The Canadian Press/AP-Cynthia Goldsmith/CDC via AP

Officials in Texas confirmed a measles outbreak impacting children in Gaines County, in the western part of the state, over the past two weeks.

So far, 10 cases have been identified “with symptom onset within the last two weeks.” Eight of the cases occurred in school-aged children and two cases were in children under 5, the Texas Department of State Health Services said on Feb. 7. Seven of those patients have been hospitalized.

“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities,” the agency said.

The cases have occurred in patients who have not received a measles vaccine, authorities said.

“The best way to prevent getting sick is to be immunized with two doses of a vaccine against measles, which is primarily administered as the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are highly effective at preventing measles,” the agency said.

In late January, state officials issued a health alert citing two initial measles cases involving school-aged children in Gaines County. It also said that children who are “too young to be vaccinated are more likely to have severe complications if they get infected with the measles virus.”

Other details about the children were not provided, including their specific ages, immigration status, or if they had traveled internationally recently.

In January, Texas health authorities said that two cases of measles were confirmed in Houston, the first measles cases in Texas since 2023. Those individuals were unvaccinated adults who had a recent history of international travel.

Last year, 40 percent of the 285 people who were confirmed to have contracted measles in the United States were hospitalized, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 42 percent of that figure involved children under the age of 5, while 31 percent were children and adolescents aged 5 to 17.

In 2024, several measles outbreaks and related incidents were connected to individuals who had a recent history of international travel. In June, officials warned that one individual may have exposed other travelers at Philadelphia International Airport.

Around the same time last year, Washington state officials separately said that a case of measles was confirmed in an Arizona resident who had recently traveled through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Earlier that year, the CDC had sent out a “health alert” over what it said at the time was an increase in global measles cases and that health providers should ensure that people traveling internationally have had the measles vaccine.

Symptoms of Measles

Measles, a highly infectious virus, generally shows up in two stages.

At first, most people develop a fever higher than 101 degrees Fahrenheit, runny nose, watery red eyes, or cough. These symptoms generally start seven to 14 days after exposure.

The second stage of measles starts about two to three days after the initial symptoms. Some people develop what is known as Koplik spots—tiny white spots—inside the mouth, according to the CDC.

Three to five days after the first symptoms begin, the telltale measles rash starts to appear on the patient’s face near the hairline before it spreads down to the rest of the body.

“Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots,” and the “spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body,” the CDC says on its website. “When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit.”