Today, the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) reported two measles cases in the state likely linked to ongoing outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico.
The OSDH said it has been on high alert given those neighboring outbreaks and has identified two people with reported exposure associated with the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks who have now reported symptoms consistent with measles.
The individuals reportedly self-isolated and refrained from going out in public upon symptom onset, OSDH said.
"These cases highlight the importance of being aware of measles activity as people travel or host visitors," Kendra Dougherty, director of infectious disease prevention and response at OSDH, said. "When people know they have exposure risk and do not have immunity to measles, they can exclude themselves from public settings for the recommended duration to eliminate the risk of transmission in their community."
"When people know they have exposure risk and do not have immunity to measles, they can exclude themselves from public settings for the recommended duration to eliminate the risk of transmission in their community.
So far, state officials said there is no ongoing public health risk associated with these cases.
25 more cases in Texas
Today, Texas officials said the outbreak total in that state now stands at 223, reflecting 25 more measles cases than last week. Twenty-nine people have been hospitalized in the outbreak, which is focused in Gaines County. Gaines has reported 156 cases.
Officials said 76 measles cases in Texas have been in kids ages 0 to 4 years, 98 have been in those ages 5 to 17 years, 38 are over 18, and 11 are unknown. Eighty case-patients are unvaccinated, 138 have unknown vaccination status, and 5 have had at least one dose of vaccine.
So far, one child has died in the Texas outbreak.
Last week, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News the federal government was shipping vitamin A doses to Gaines County to help with the outbreak and suggested the use of cod liver oil to help treat measles infections. Cod liver oil is not an evidence-based treatment for measles, and vitamin A is neither a measles preventive or part of treatment for most patients.
Kennedy, who has dismissed the growing outbreak as routine, did say unvaccinated people should consider getting the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine (MMR) but said it was ultimately a "personal decision." He also said steroids and antibiotics were being used with great success to treat Texas patients infected with the virus.
In an interview with the New York Times, William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said that antibiotics, which fight bacterial infections, are not effective for treating measles, which is caused by a virus. And he was unaware of any evidence demonstrating that steroids improved measles outcomes.
New Mexico case count grows
New Mexico has 3 new measles cases, raising the total to 33, including a new case in Eddy County, the first outside of Lea County, according to the most recent update from NMHealth.
Officials said most of the 33 cases have been in unvaccinated residents, and in response to the outbreak, nearly 9,000 New Mexicans have received the MMR vaccine since February 1, compared to 5,342 MMR vaccinations in the same period last year.
"We are heartened by the number of New Mexicans getting vaccinated in response to this outbreak," said Miranda Durham, MD, the state's chief medical officer.
