HOOD COUNTY, Texas — Texas health officials have reported the state's first confirmed case of measles since 2019.
The Department of State Health Services on Friday announced that the case was confirmed in a child in Hood County, which is just southwest of Fort Worth. The department did not say what city the child resides in.
The state department said the child was treated and is recovering from the highly contagious respiratory disease.
According to the department, the child had no known travel in an area where measles was spreading and there is currently no known exposure to a person with the illness.
It's unclear if the child was around others while contagious.
The last confirmed case of measles in Texas was in 2019 when there were 23 reports due to travel-related outbreaks, the department said.
State health officials said measles is transmitted through direct contact with infected droplets or by airborne spread through breaths, coughs and sneezes. The virus can remain in the air up to two hours after an infected person leaves the area, officials said.
Symptoms include high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. A rash can also break out on the face and then spread down the neck and trunk of the body.
A person can remain contagious four days before and four days after the rash appears, according to health officials.
The state department said two doses of the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine are the best way to prevent getting the virus. However, the department added that vaccinated people can sometimes become infected.
Any suspected cases of measles should be reported to local health departments, which can be found here.
