Measles, a highly contagious disease that was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, has made a resurgence in West Texas communities, jumping hundreds of miles to the northern border of the Panhandle and East Texas, and invading bordering states of New Mexico and Oklahoma.
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Based on the rapid spread of cases statewide – more than 200 over 50 days – public health officials predict that it could take Texas a year to contain the spread. With cases continuously rising and the rest of the country’s unvaccinated population at the outbreak’s mercy … .
“This demonstrates that this (vaccine exemption) policy puts the community, the county, and surrounding states at risk because of how contagious this disease is,” said Glenn Fennelly, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases … . “We are running the risk of threatening global stability.”
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Experts say that as travel season ramps up and if Texas can’t seem to stop the spread, states nationwide should prepare themselves for what may come.
