Measles Outbreak 2019: Virus Continues Spread With New Confirmed Cases In Northern Michigan And Texas

The measles outbreak that has dominated the health community in 2019 has already reached well over 1,000 confirmed cases. And it doesn’t appear to be slowing down with new confirmed cases in Michigan and Texas.

Michigan had already been battling measles for most of the year, though health officials were able to keep it somewhat isolated to the Detroit suburbs. That changed when a woman was found to have contracted the contagious virus arrived home after a trip overseas to Traverse City in northern Michigan.

Grand Traverse County Health Officials haven’t released the name of the woman, but discovered she had visited Ukraine recently. The suspicion by health officials is that she contracted the virus while in Ukraine before arriving home in late June. They also fear that she may have further exposed people at a local store, a government office, and local health facilities between June 30 and July 4. However, they don’t believe anyone was exposed during the National Cherry Festival, an annual festival in Traverse City that draws big crowds from across the U.S.

Things aren’t much better in El Paso, Texas, which has confirmed two cases of measles. A woman in her 40’s and a toddler both tested positive for the virus, though it is unclear to state health officials how or where they came into contact with it.

However, Texas health officials have issued warnings about possible exposure and provided a list of locations where people could have come into contact with either person. The list included a pair of Walmarts, a Subway sandwich shop, and an El Paso mall. They did also ease some parental concerns, revealing that “95.4% of the student population have been fully immunized” against measles.

Health officials are currently investigating if the woman and toddler were linked in any way.