Three hundred and fifty-five cases have been reported in the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, but local officials say that it’s an undercount and that the virus could continue to spread spread for months.
Texas has reported 309 outbreak-associated cases, New Mexico has reported 42 cases, and Oklahoma has reported four probable cases.
Forty-two people have been hospitalized. Among the cases, 110 are among children up to age 4, and 140 are among young people ages 5 to 17.
In Texas, 211 cases are in Gaines County, where the outbreak was first identified. In New Mexico, most of the cases are in Lea County, which borders Gaines County.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health said that as of March 18, there were four probable measles cases in people with “exposure associated with the Texas and New Mexico outbreak.” All were unvaccinated or had unclear vaccination status.
Although most of the cases have been in people who had not gotten the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or whose vaccination status was unknown, six cases were found in people who said they have gotten at least one dose: two in Texas and four in New Mexico.
