(Reuters) – The Texas health department has reported 702 cases of measles in the state on Tuesday, an increase of 19 cases since May 2, as the U.S. battles one of its worst outbreaks of the childhood disease.
As of May 1, a total of 935 confirmed measles cases were reported by 30 jurisdictions, with 12 outbreaks reported this year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
Researchers have warned that the country is at a tipping point for the return of endemic measles, a quarter century after the disease was declared eradicated in the country.
Cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, increased to 403 from 396 since the last update, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
New Mexico’s health department reported 67 cases, unchanged from its last update. Most of the state’s cases are from Lea County, adjacent to Gaines County in Texas.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
