Lubbock and Texas health officials have confirmed 6 cases of measles in Gaines County, with others being investigated in the surrounding counties.

FRIDAY, Feb. 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is reporting an outbreak of measles in Gaines County. All cases have been identified among unvaccinated school-aged children who are residents of Gaines County. Symptom onset began within the last two weeks.

Health officials in Texas are battling a growing measles outbreak in an area that has some of the state's lowest vaccination rates and highest non-medical exemptions. On January 30, officials reported two measles cases in unvaccinated,

Public health practitioners warn that measles outbreaks like the one hitting children in Texas will become more common because of scores of laws around the United States — pending and passed — that ultimately lower vaccine rates.

A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates. In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles. Since an estimated 1 in 5 people with the disease end up in the hospital,