A measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico has grown to 208 confirmed cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. 198 of the cases are in Texas and 10 are in New Mexico.
One person in Texas and one person in New Mexico has died as part of the outbreak.
The CDC also warns it is likely the outbreak will lead to more cases before it subsides.
Overall, there have been 222 confirmed measles cases in the U.S. this year across twelve states or jurisdictions: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington. The overwhelming majority of cases, 201, have occurred in New Mexico and Texas as part of the outbreaks there.
Three collections of cases meet the CDC definition of a measles outbreak, which is three or more cases in relation to each other. 93% of all cases this year have been associated with one of the outbreaks.
RELATED STORY | CDC deploys 'rapid response' officers to Texas to address the measles outbreak
The CDC says it is currently on the ground in Texas, collaborating with local health officials to combat the growing outbreak.
The CDC said the partnership — referred to as Epi-Aid — represents a "rapid response" by the health agency's Epidemic Intelligence Service to prevent measles from spreading. The CDC said EIS officers will provide support to local health officials for a period of one to three weeks.
The CDC warns that clinicians should keep up public health messaging and vaccination efforts during the travel season over Spring and Summer months.
The overall risk from measles to the American public remained low, the agency said.
