Questions and Answers about the Texas Measles Outbreak

Unfortunately, we have more questions than answers...

Not surprisingly, the measles outbreak in Texas has already grown to 15 cases.

Remember, this is an outbreak that began on January 29th, when an unvaccinated school age child from Gaines County in West Texas was hospitalized in Lubbock.

Questions and Answers about the Texas Measles Outbreak

While we know that there are 15 cases, important things that we don’t know include:

• how did the outbreak start?

• when did the outbreak start?

• where have the cases been found and where have folks been exposed?

• are exposed people who are not immune being vaccinated and/or put in quarantine?

So what do we know?

We know that these are likely secondary cases and that the initial exposure likely happened in early to mid- January.

Why?

Texas Measles Outbreak Timeline

Measles has a 10-21 day incubation period!

That means that most of these cases are grouped too closely together to be directly related - except to an earlier exposure.

1. Index case: ? Early to Mid January

2. First reported case: Jan 29

3. Second reported case: Jan 30

4. Four additional cases: Feb 5

5. Four additional cases: Feb 7

6. Five additional cases: Feb 10 (? first tertiary cases)

Why is this important?

The number of secondary cases doesn’t predict how big an outbreak might become, but it might give you some idea if you know how many people were exposed and their vaccination levels…

It likely means that an awful lot of people were exposed to that index case. Those are the folks getting sick now. And then, over the next 10-21 days, we will likely start seeing the next wave, which should be expected considering how low immunization levels are in this part of Texas.

What else do we know?

We know that of the 15 cases:

• seven have required hospitalization

• at least 10 were unvaccinated (we don’t know the vaccination status on the last five cases)

• at least two were under that age of five years

• at least eight were school age and possibly “connected to private religious schools in the district”

And we know that there will be more cases…

If you are in the area, know that the Texas Department of State Health Services is advising that infants 6 to 11 months get an early dose of MMR and that children over 12 months old get their second dose of MMR as soon as possible after their 12 month dose (but at least 28 days later).

Those who aren’t in Gaines County should make sure they are vaccinated and protected, with age appropriate doses of the MMR vaccine.

References:

South Plaines Public Health District. Measles Exposure Updates. https://southplainshealth.org/measles-exposure-page/

Texas Department of State Health Services. News & Alerts. Health Alert: Measles Outbreak in Gaines County, Texas. https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/health-alert-measles-outbreak-gaines-county-texas

Texas Department of State Health Services. News & Alerts. Measles Outbreak. https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/measles-outbreak

Texas Department of State Health Services. Measles Health Alert and Recommendations. https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/confirmed-case-measles-january-2025

Lubbock Public Health. Lubbock Public Health Confirms Measles Outbreak in Gaines County, Increased Risk for Unvaccinated Individuals. https://ci.lubbock.tx.us/news/1738888720-lubbock-public-health-confirms-measles-outbreak-in-gaines-county-increased-risk-for-unvaccinated-individuals

Fifteen cases of measles reported in small West Texas county with high rate of vaccine exemptions. https://apnews.com/article/measles-outbreak-gaines-county-texas-religious-exemptions-cacdae1843fa918964a1b8e01fe757f5