At least 24 cases of measles have been reported by the state’s health department, and additional cases are expected. Of those infected, 22 are children and two are adults. None of them had been immunized with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
The outbreak is clustered in a county of about 22,500 people. Gaines county has one of the highest rates of exemption for at least one vaccine in Texas at 14%.
The measles vaccination rates have fallen in recent years and continue to decrease as more parents seek exemptions from childhood vaccinations following political backlash during the pandemic and misinformation about vaccine safety, the CDC found.