By Terri Langford, Stephen Simpson and Eleanor Klibanof, Texas Tribune
The number of measles cases has risen to 505, as the historical outbreak continues to spread across West Texas, according to state officials on Tuesday. Of those, 57 patients have been hospitalized.
There have been two deaths involving school-aged children who lived in the outbreak area. Neither child was vaccinated nor did they have any underlying conditions, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
As of Tuesday, most of the measles cases reported since January – 328 – were centered in Gaines County, about 90 minutes southwest of Lubbock on the New Mexico border.
Two more counties were added to the latest report. Borden and Randall each reported a case. Randall is located south of Amarillo. Borden, southeast of Lubbock.
State officials have been releasing updated measles numbers every Tuesday and Friday. Last Friday, they reported 73 new cases, the biggest surge in cases over a three-day period since the outbreak started. Of those new cases, most of them, 44, were in Gaines County.
Public health officials have warned that the state could see an increase in measles cases after children have been traveling for spring break.
Currently, the largest demographic of people becoming infected with measles is children under the age of 18, accounting for 351 of the 505 cases.
On Feb. 26, Texas officials reported a 6-year-old unvaccinated, otherwise healthy school-aged child died from measles, the first death from the virus in a decade. The family lives in the outbreak area. On April 3, an unvaccinated 8-year-old girl, who also lived in the outbreak area died of measles, according to hospital officials.
Last month, New Mexico officials said an unvaccinated adult in Lea County, about 50 miles away from Gaines County, died with measles.
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