Public health authorities said Tuesday that an outbreak of measles in western Texas has expanded, while a new case was confirmed nearby across state lines in New Mexico.

Two dozen cases of measles have been reported in a small West Texas county that has one of the state’s highest vaccine exemption rates. In Gaines County, which has a population of about 22,000, 24 cases of the airborne infectious disease have been reported since late January. Most of them are unvaccinated, school-aged children.

A measles outbreak in West Texas has grown to 24 cases, with a new infection in New Mexico. All Texas cases involve unvaccinated individuals, prompting vaccination clinics and public health warnings.

Fifteen measles cases — mostly in school-aged children — have been confirmed in a small county in West Texas with one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state. Some of the cases appear to be connected to private religious schools in the district, said Holbrooks, who cautioned that the investigation is ongoing.

A measles outbreak is growing in a rural area of West Texas where vaccination rates are well below the recommended level.

West Texas faces a measles outbreak, with 10 unvaccinated people infected, mostly children. Health officials expect more cases and emphasize the importance of the MMR vaccine as vaccination rates fall and exemption requests rise in Texas.

According to the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Rule §97.7, schools and childcare settings shall exclude unimmunized children for at least 21 days after the last date the unimmunized child was exposed to a measles case.

Health officials in Texas are battling a growing measles outbreak in an area that has some of the state's lowest vaccination rates and highest non-medical exemptions. On January 30, officials reported two measles cases in unvaccinated,