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The US has been suffering from a measles outbreak with over 1,000 cases in 11 affected states. The viral disease has been spreading rapidly in the United States, with more and more areas getting affected daily. While Texas was already in the midst of this measles outbreak, today the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) reported eight more cases of measles since its last update on May 9. These new cases lift the Texas outbreak total to 717 from 32 counties. Additionally, the state has reported 15 more cases that are not a part of the West Texas outbreak.

Among these cases, two are from Dallas that are being linked to the large outbreak in West Texas. Additionally, the TDSHS said that the cases in the Dallas area are now linked to the large outbreak centered in Gaines County and from Collin and Rockwall counties. While Collin County is just northeast of Dallas, Rockwall County is about 32 miles northeast of Dallas.

Last week, officials removed Garza and Lynn counties from the list of active transmission areas, as two incubation periods had passed since the last patients were infectious.

Were there signs of an outbreak?

A research team based in Baylor College of Medicine reported their findings in the American Journal of Public Health, where they stated that they had detected the measles virus in Houston wastewater samples before the illnesses were detected in two travellers.

The wastewater surveillance program, which also involved the Houston Health Department and researchers from two other universities, detected measles in samples collected on January 7 from two water treatment facilities in Houston. This was before the investigations confirmed two measles cases in travellers on January 17. What's interesting to note is that travellers lived in the same area as these water treatment plants.