Measles cases in Texas rise to 505, state health department says

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(Reuters) -The Texas health department reported 505 cases of measles in the state on Tuesday, an increase of 24 cases from its previous count on April 4, as the United States battles an outbreak of the childhood disease that has spread across 22 states.

An unvaccinated school-aged child, who had no underlying health conditions, died last week, marking the second fatality in the state due to measles, which spreads through the air when an infected person sneezes or coughs.

Cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, rose to 328 from 315 on Friday, Texas’ health department said. The state reported one additional hospitalization from the infection, bringing the total number to 57.

New Mexico reported two additional cases since its last update on Friday, taking the total number of infections in the state to 56. The state’s Chaves County also reported its first case of the year.

Most of New Mexico’s cases are from Lea County, which is adjacent to Gaines County in Texas.

The country’s health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Sunday that vaccines are the best protection against measles, despite being an anti-vaccine advocate who has declared that vaccination is a personal choice.

The vaccination rate in Gaines County is about 82%, below the 95% rate considered necessary to be protective for those who cannot be vaccinated.

As of April 4, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a nationwide total of 607 cases so far this year, more than double the overall cases reported last year.

The CDC said that 97% of the nationwide cases involve individuals who are either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)