The outbreak in Gaines County, with a population of about 22,000, has grown since two cases were reported in January. All those who contracted measles were unvaccinated, health officials said.

A measles outbreak is growing in a rural area of West Texas where vaccination rates are well below the recommended level.

Gaines County in West Texas reportedly has 10 cases of measles, with eight among school-aged children. According to the Texas Tribune, all the individuals were unvaccinated, and seven have been hospitalized.

Measles cases are growing in West Texas and health officials are sounding the alarm about the outbreak that we are seeing and the possibility that the outbreak will grow larger. Last week we reported on two cases from Gaines County that were children who weren't vaccinated against measles and were being hospitalized in Lubbock hospitals.

On January 30, officials reported two measles cases in unvaccinated, school-aged children in Gaines County, which sits at the border of New Mexico and is around 90 miles southwest of Lubbock, Texas. Both children were hospitalized in Lubbock and had been discharged.

Two school-age children from Gaines County who had measles were hospitalized in Lubbock, state officials said.

Public health practitioners warn that measles outbreaks like the one hitting children in Texas will become more common because of scores of laws around the United States — pending and passed — that ultimately lower vaccine rates.

A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates. In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles. Since an estimated 1 in 5 people with the disease end up in the hospital,