Officials at the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) warn there is a growing measles outbreak involving school-aged children. The report said that 10 cases have been identified in Gaines County and eight of the cases are school-aged children, of which two are under the age of 5. All were unvaccinated cases, said officials.

A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates. In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles. Since an estimated 1 in 5 people with the disease end up in the hospital, the two cases suggested a larger outbreak.

A measles outbreak is growing in a rural area of West Texas where vaccination rates are well below the recommended level.

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is reporting an outbreak of measles in Gaines County. All cases have been identified among unvaccinated school-aged children who are residents of Gaines County. Symptom onset began within the last two weeks.

Most people who get measles are not protected by vaccines. In fact, Gaines County is one of the lowest counties that has childhood vaccination in Texas.

On January 30, officials reported two measles cases in unvaccinated, school-age children in Gaines County, which sits at the border of New Mexico and is around 90 miles southwest of Lubbock, Texas. Both children were hospitalized in Lubbock and had been discharged.

Texas Health and Human Services reports that seven children have been hospitalized with the disease. All were unvaccinated.