LUBBOCK — A school-aged child has died in Lubbock from measles, the first death reported in an ongoing outbreak that has infected more than 120 people in West Texas since January, Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed on Wednesday.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 10.3 million people were infected with measles in 2023 and 107,500 died. Most were unvaccinated.

The Mennonite population being affected by a measles outbreak in West Texas is part of a larger, loosely affiliated group of churches worldwide with varied beliefs and leadership structures — and with sometimes strained or distant relations with public authorities.

The West Texas measles outbreak continues to see more confirmed cases and, on Wednesday, the outbreak's first death. Weather could play a role.

Eighteen more cases of measles were reported in Gaines County, as of Friday. State officials confirmed this week an unvaccinated school-aged child died from measles in Lubbock.

Gaines County in West Texas is at the heart of the ongoing measles outbreak. Non-medical vaccine exemption rates there are high.

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