The Texas Department of State Health Services has added five counties to the state’s designated measles outbreak area: four in the Panhandle in West Texas and one in Northeast Texas, as the agency provides further immunization guidance to bolster gradually increasing vaccination rates.
The 10-county outbreak area – where, as of this writing, 541 measles cases had been identified since January – newly includes Cochran, Dallam, Garza, Lamar, and Lubbock counties and retains Dawson, Gaines, Lynn, Terry, and Yoakum counties. Martin County is no longer included in the outbreak.
At press time, 530 of the 541 cases have occurred in unvaccinated patients or those with unknown vaccination status, DSHS has issued the following measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine recommendations for people who live in or visit counties in the designated outbreak area.
For infants:
- Immediately administer an early dose of MMR vaccine for infants aged 6-11 months.
For children:
- Administer a second dose of MMR vaccine for preschool-aged children aged 1-4 years who have received one prior dose.
- Children at least 1 year of age with no documentation of vaccination history should receive two doses at least 28 days apart.
For adults:
- Administer a second dose of MMR vaccine for adults who received one prior dose.
- Adults with no documentation of vaccination history should receive two doses at least 28 days apart.
Printable MMR vaccination recommendations are available on the DSHS measles outbreak webpage, along with measles postexposure prophylaxis guidelines.
Most Texans have not opted in to Texas’ immunization registry, ImmTrac2, so DSHS says it cannot provide a comprehensive MMR vaccine count. However, the registry’s data does show a significant increase in MMR vaccinations administered in the first three months of this year compared with that same period last year.
In public health region 1, which encompasses Gaines County, the epicenter of the South Plains outbreak, DSHS says ImmTrac2 recorded an increase of some 3,000 doses of MMR vaccine administered in January-March 2025 – 8,189, compared with 5,104 doses recorded by the registry for the region in January-March 2024.
Statewide, the total number of administered MMR shots recorded by ImmTrac2 during the same time frame jumped by 30,000 – an increase of about 16% from 188,112 in 2024 to 218,446 in 2025.
Physicians can visit TMA’s measles resource center for resources to help combat and contain the outbreak, with links to:
- Slides presented in March’s joint TMA/DSHS measles outbreak update webinar;
- DSHS’ measles outbreak news updates webpage, which compiles the latest information on the outbreak and updates the statewide case count on Tuesdays and Fridays;
- DSHS’ measles communication toolkit, which includes printable posters for doctors’ offices along with digital ads and infographics available at no cost; and
- Photos of various presentations of measles to aid in early identification.
The TMA Foundation offers grants of up to $3,500 to fund vaccination activities, education, and outreach events. County medical societies, TMA Alliance chapters, medical student chapters, and TMA member physicians are all eligible to apply and can find details about how to apply here. The deadline to apply for the current grant cycle is May 23.
Jessica Ridge
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1395