Texas measles outbreak tops 500 cases, including multiple at a day care
in Lubbock
[April 09, 2025]
By JAMIE STENGLE
A day care facility in a Texas county that's part of the measles
outbreak has multiple cases, including children too young to be fully
vaccinated, public health officials say.
West Texas is in the middle of a still-growing measles outbreak with 505
cases reported on Tuesday. The state expanded the number of counties in
the outbreak area this week to 10. The highly contagious virus began to
spread in late January and health officials say it has spread to New
Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico.
Three people who were unvaccinated have died from measles-related
illnesses this year, including two elementary school-aged children in
Texas. The second child died Thursday at a Lubbock hospital, and Health
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended the funeral in Seminole, the
epicenter of the outbreak.
As of Friday, there were seven cases at a day care where one young child
who was infectious gave it to two other children before it spread to
other classrooms, Lubbock Public Health director Katherine Wells said.
“Measles is so contagious I won’t be surprised if it enters other
facilities,” Wells said.
The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is first recommended between 12
and 15 months old and a second shot between 4 and 6 years old.
Maegan Messick, co-owner of Tiny Tots U Learning Academy, where the
outbreak is occurring, recently told KLBK-TV in Lubbock that they're
taking precautions like putting kids who are too young to get the
vaccines together in isolation.
“We have tried to be extremely transparent,” she told the TV station.
There are more than 200 children at the day care, Wells said. Most have
had least one dose of the vaccine, though she added, “we do have some
children that have only received one dose that are now infected.”
The public health department is recommending that any child with only
one vaccine get their second dose early, and changed its recommendation
for kids in Lubbock County to get the first vaccine dose at 6 months old
instead of 1. A child who is unvaccinated and attends the day care must
stay home for 21 days since their last exposure, Wells said.
Case count and hospitalization numbers in Texas have climbed steadily
since the outbreak began, and spiked by 81 cases from March 28 to April
4.
[to top of second column]
|
Tiny Tots U Learning Academy has multiple measles cases, as seen
Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Annie Rice)
 On Tuesday, the state added another
24 cases to its count and two additional counties, Borden and
Randall. One more person was hospitalized since Friday, with 57
total.
Gaines County, where the virus has been spreading through a
close-knit Mennonite community, has the majority of cases, with 328
on Tuesday. Neighboring Terry County is second with 46, followed by
Lubbock County with 36.
The Texas Department of State Health Services tracks vaccinations
rate for kindergartners, though the data doesn’t include
homeschooled children or some kids who attend private school. Gaines
County's rate is 82%, which is far below the 95% level needed to
prevent community spread — and health officials have said it's
likely lower in the small religious schools and homeschooling groups
where the early cases were identified.
In Terry County, the vaccination rate for kindergartners is at 96%,
while Lubbock County is at 92%.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met with Texas
officials Monday to determine how many people it would send to West
Texas to assist with the outbreak response, spokesman Jason McDonald
said Monday. He expected a small team to arrive later this week,
followed by a bigger group on the ground next week.
The CDC said its first team was in the region from early March to
April 1, withdrawing on-the-ground support days before a second
child died in the outbreak.
A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said late Sunday that the
governor and first lady were extending their “deepest prayers” to
the family and community, and that the state health department had
sent epidemiologists, immunization teams and specimen collection
units to the area.
___
AP reporter Amanda Seitz in Washington contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
