22 hours Ago By Adam Zuvanich
The Harris County health department said Thursday it's investigating a reported measles case in a child with no travel history, which would make it the first case in the Houston area this year that is not associated with international travel. The reported case in the northwest part of the county was confirmed by a commercial laboratory, according to Harris County Public Health, which said it was awaiting secondary confirmation from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The county health department said it's conducting contact tracing to identify people who may have been in close contact with the child.
"Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus, which spreads through coughing and sneezing," Dr. Ericka Brown, the local health authority for Harris County, said in a news release. "This is a great reminder about the importance of keeping children up to date with vaccines.
Measles is easily preventable through vaccination." The Houston Health Department has reported three measles cases this year , while the health department for nearby Fort Bend County has reported one case . All four have been tied to international travel and not the ongoing outbreak in West Texas , where more than 400 cases and one death have been reported.
The last confirmed measles case in unincorporated Harris County was in 2019, when four people were infected, according to Harris County Public Health. Before this year, the last reported measles cases in the city of Houston were in 2018..
