Lamar County now joins the list of Texas counties with confirmed cases of the measles. The Paris-Lamar County Health District said yesterday (March 13) that four people ranging in age from 5 months to adulthood have the disease. The statement said all four infected patients were not vaccinated and had recently traveled to Gaines County. That county, southwest of Lubbock, currently reports 174 cases of measles, including one child who died from the disease last month. Texas officials say the statewide total of cases now numbers 259. Lamar County officials did not say whether the four local patients are hospitalized or in quarantine, but did say the agency is engaged in contact tracing to identify other possible exposures.
- In Fannin County, there’s a ban on outdoor burning this weekend. Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham issued an emergency, 48-hour ban this afternoon in response to the high risk of wildfire throughout the region. In Hopkins County, the Texas A&M Forest Service reports firefighters today contained a 2-acre blaze about 11 miles southwest of Sulphur Springs. A Red Flag Warning, issued for high risk of wildfire, remains in effect for most of Texas and Oklahoma until 9 p.m. tonight.
Four measles cases confirmed in Lamar County
