Number of 2019 Measles Cases in Texas Already Higher Than for All of Last Year

Less than three months into 2019, Texas has already documented 10 measles cases — more than the nine reported for all of 2018 — according to state health officials. 

This week, the University Health System in San Antonio confirmed its physicians had treated a measles patient amid an outbreak of the disease that's swept through 11 states.

Texas reported nine measles cases in 2018 and just one in 2017, according to a spokesman for the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. The agency last month issued an alert urging healthcare providers to be aware of the outbreak and report suspected cases. It also urged parents to vaccinate their children.

The UHS patient was the first San Antonio measles case reported this year. According to an Express-News report, the man is a traveler visiting Guadalupe County from the Philippines, where there is an outbreak of the disease.

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