(Reuters) -The Texas health department reported 683 cases of measles in the state on Friday, an increase of 20 since April 29, as cases of the childhood disease surpass the 900-mark in one of the worst outbreaks in the country.
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.
Cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, was 396, same as its last update, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
Eighty nine patients have been hospitalized, over the course of the outbreak, the department said.
New Mexico’s health department reported 67 cases on Friday, one more case from its last update. Most of the state’s cases are from Lea County, adjacent to Gaines County in Texas.
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.
Illinois health officials on Wednesday confirmed two measles cases in Cook County.
U.S. pediatricians and infectious disease experts say the fight against rising measles cases nationwide is being hampered by a lack of forceful advocacy for vaccination from government health officials and statements on unproven treatments that are confusing parents.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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