West Texas measles outbreak declared over, state officials say
The West Texas measles outbreak is officially over, the Department of State Health Services announced Monday.
It has been more than 42 days since a new case was reported in a county with ongoing transmission, the state said in a news release. The 42 day-marker is when public health professionals consider a measles outbreak to be over, because it its twice as long as the disease’s incubation period, or the time it can take between when a person is exposed to measles and when they get sick.
As of Aug. 18, there were 762 confirmed cases in Texas, including four in Tarrant County. Two children have died from measles in the outbreak, and 99 people were hospitalized.
The vast majority of cases — 718 — were in people who are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccine status, said Dr. Varun Shetty, the state’s chief epidemiologist, during a public meeting Wednesday. Shetty added that this emphasizes “the robust effectiveness of the MMR vaccine.”
The Department of State Health recommends getting two doses of the MMR vaccine as the best protection against serious illness.
Officials do expect to see additional measles cases in the future in Texas because there are other outbreaks in the North America and across the world.
“I want to highlight the tireless work of the public health professionals across the state who contributed to the containment of one of the most contagious viruses,” said Dr. Jennifer Shuford, DSHS commissioner. “I also want to recognize the many health care professionals who identified and treated cases of a virus that most providers had never seen in person before this outbreak.”
Last year, the Star-Telegram reported Last year, the Star-Telegram reported that fewer Fort Worth-area schoolchildren had received the MMR vaccine, leaving more kids vulnerable to the virus and more schools susceptible to an outbreak.
