The Lubbock Board of Health held a meeting Friday afternoon, with one of the main topics on the agenda being the ongoing measles outbreak in West Texas.
It was confirmed Friday morning, 33 cases of measles are people in Lubbock County.
Dr. Katherine Wells, the Director of Lubbock Public Health, told everyone about the health department’s biggest concerns and where they think the Gaines County outbreak could have originated from.
She also discussed the course of action for the measles exposure at Tiny Tots U Learning in South Lubbock. She confirmed, the daycare currently has 7 confirmed cases of measles.
“We have seven cases within that daycare in addition to multiple children that are currently under investigation,” Wells said.
The health department, the daycare, and CDC are working together to keep kids healthy.
“Who should be isolated, who should be quarantined,” Wells said.
The CDC recommends children 12 months and older receive the MMR vaccine. But, Wells said in special circumstances, they can recommend it to children over 6 months old. She said this exposure at Tiny Tots U Learning is one of these special circumstances.
“If there is an exposure. So, for example, this day care, we’re recommending every child six months older to get their vaccine. And then all of the ones that have already had their first, if they’re under four, are still getting that extra dose,” Wells said.
She said it’s a possibility that the West Texas measles outbreak started because someone travelled to Canada, where they already had an outbreak of measles.
“There’s a large outbreak in a similar population in Canada, which actually started prior to our outbreak. So it’s likely that our outbreak started because of travel in Canada,” Wells said.
She also said it has since spread to Mexico, likely from Gaines County.
“We’re also seeing outbreaks in Chihuahua, Mexico, that are the same ethnic group that’s in the county. So it’s now three nations and multiple states and also New Mexico,” Wells said.
Lubbock Public Health hosts vaccine clinics Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
