The Texas Department of State Health Services issued a health alert today after confirming a total of 14 cases of measles in the state.
Tarrant County’s Public Health Department reported two new cases yesterday and seven new cases today, Dallas News reports.
The first reported case of measles occurred last month, when an adult traveled to a country where measles is still common, local NBC affiliate DFW reports.
“We understand the trip was in late July and those two initial cases have recovered from the illness,” said Vanessa Joseph, the department’s spokeswoman, told Dallas News . “We will release further details as we receive them.”
Measles is a highly contagious virus that infects the respiratory system and has a characteristic red rash over the face and torso. Few people in the United States have the measles, but vaccination is the best protection.
"We've done a lot of work to eliminate measles in the United States, so we would like to maintain that," said Russell Jones, the county's chief epidemiologist, told Dallas News . "Measles is a huge childhood disease and kills lots of children in other parts of the world. We don't want that here. So, the idea is that we find their contacts and to contain it, keep it from spreading further.
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The Mayo Clinic has more information about the measles here .
Image: CDC/Dr. Heinz F. EichenwaldTom at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons