religious exemptions for vaccines

This brings the West Texas outbreak to 663 cases since its inception in late January.

Kansas has reported 37 cases. Wichita hasn't had a case since 2017.

The Texas outbreak is nearing 600 cases since January.

Fifty-eight patients have been hospitalized since the outbreak began in late January.

The measles outbreak in West Texas didn't happen just by chance. Health officials say the easily preventable disease has ripped through communities sprawling across more than 20 Texas counties in part because health departments were starved of the funding needed to run vaccine programs.

With cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas and other states will have to spend more on public health. The biggest expense of a measles outbreak is the public health response in shutting down the outbreak.

Oklahoma is reporting one new confirmed measles case and another probable case.

Two measles cases have been reported at Fort Bliss and in the city of El Paso; Juárez reports four cases.

The Texas Department of State Health Services on Tuesday confirmed 24 more cases of measles since last Friday.

About 500 Texans, mostly young unvaccinated children, have contracted the disease. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the West Texas town that has been the epicenter of the outbreak.