Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
Officials with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reported one new case of measles in West Texas on Tuesday.
The total number of confirmed cases linked to the region's measles outbreak is now up to 729. The state issues updates every Tuesday and Friday.
Ninety-four people have been hospitalized with measles since the West Texas outbreak first broke out in Gaines County in January.
The DSHS explained that that was the total number of people hospitalized over the course of the outbreak. It was not the current number of people in the hospital.
Based on the most recent data, DSHS identified designated outbreak counties with ongoing measles transmission: Cochran, Dawson, Gaines, Lamar, Lubbock, Terry and Yoakum.
There were also two new cases of measles in the Fort Worth region that state officials did not link to the West Texas outbreak.
Last Thursday, state and local officials confirmed a measles case in Brewster County. That was the first reported case to appear in the Big Bend region since a measles outbreak began earlier this year in West Texas near the New Mexico border. The DSHS said that the case was directly linked to the ongoing outbreak.
There have been two fatalities in school-aged children who lived in the outbreak area. The children were not vaccinated and had no known underlying conditions.
Health official added that measles is contagious, so additional cases were likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities.
Over the last few updates, there have only been single digit increases in confirmed cases, a trend that made Chris Van Deusen at DSHS cautiously optimistic.
While he acknowledges it could take a while for the outbreak to run out of steam, things appear to be heading in the right direction.
He stressed, however, that a new infection in an unvaccinated population could change things quickly.
Copyright 2025 Texas Public Radio
