{"id":23239,"date":"2025-03-07T21:19:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T04:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/as-measles-outbreak-grows-in-texas-fears-increase-in-southwest-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:30:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:30:40","slug":"as-measles-outbreak-grows-in-texas-fears-increase-in-southwest-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/as-measles-outbreak-grows-in-texas-fears-increase-in-southwest-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"As measles outbreak grows in Texas, fears increase in Southwest Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"La
La Plata County has once again found itself with a singular finalist for the position of public health director after one of its two candidates dropped out of consideration. (Reuben M. Schafir\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

An outbreak of measles \u2013 a disease declared eliminated from the United States in 2000<\/a> \u2013 in Texas and New Mexico that has killed two people has some residents of Southwest Colorado on edge as spring break nears.<\/p>\n

Almost 200 people in Texas have been infected <\/a>with measles since January, including 80 who are unvaccinated and 113 whose vaccination status is unknown. No one has died of measles in the U.S. since 2015, and this is the largest outbreak in 30 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people are calling and asking if they should get an MMR booster,\u201d said Dr. Sarah Goodpastor, regional medical director of the Mercy primary care practices, referring to the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.<\/p>\n

The questions come as a small number of people are hospitalized<\/a> each week in La Plata County for influenza, COVID-19 or RSV. With people still congregating indoors, Goodpastor warns that those three viruses \u2013 plus unusually high rates of norovirus \u2013 are still active in the community.<\/p>\n

For measles, experts such as Goodpastor and Brian Devine, the environmental health and communicable disease manager at La Plata County Public Health, say everyone should check their vaccination status. The state operates an online portal <\/a>to do so.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment <\/a>has issued these guidelines:<\/p>\n

Most adults born during or after 1957 who have received at least one dose of live measles virus-containing vaccine (MMR) on or after their first birthday should be protected against measles unless they fall into a high-risk category.Adults vaccinated from 1963 through 1967 with either inactivated (killed) measles vaccine or measles vaccine of unknown type should be revaccinated with at least one dose of live, attenuated measles vaccine (MMR).People born before 1957 are likely to have been infected and are presumed to be protected against measles, mumps and rubella. <\/div>\n

Devine said anyone unsure of their immunity status should check and contact their primary care physician if they need a vaccine. The public health department can also schedule appointments for people who need an MMR vaccine within the guidelines established by CDPHE.<\/p>\n

Given the vaccine\u2019s efficacy, the measles outbreak in Colorado\u2019s neighboring states doesn\u2019t mean people need to drastically change their habits. But an outbreak in the community would prompt a swift response, and the public health department has begun to prepare.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeasles is one of the most infectious diseases ever identified in humans. It is severe, acute and debilitating,\u201d Devine said. \u201cThat combination of things means it has a huge impact on the community, even on people who do not get sick, because it means they are going to be hearing from us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"This
This undated image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Feb. 4, 2015, shows an electron microscope image of a measles virus particle, center. Measles outbreaks in the U.S. and abroad are raising health experts\u2019 concern about the preventable, once-common childhood virus. (Cynthia Goldsmith\/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The county\u2019s immunization rate is between 90% and 95%, Devine said, which is on par with the rest of the state. In Durango School District 9-R, 94% of students were fully vaccinated<\/a> for MMR last year, according to state data.<\/p>\n

Based on those numbers and measles\u2019 ability to spread rapidly, a single person with measles at a public establishment could easily expose 200 people. Approximately 15 would be susceptible to measles, 13 or 14 would actually get sick and two or three would be hospitalized.<\/p>\n

In the event of an exposure, La Plata County Public Health would try to contact all 200 people and ask them to watch for symptoms. Unvaccinated people may be able to take a post-exposure vaccine that can be effective in preventing infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numbers here are just vast,\u201d Devine said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re not in our favor. And we need to respond very quickly and in a very public way.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to ensuring immunity, the department asks people to stay home if they\u2019re feeling sick. The infectious period often begins around the same time someone develops a fever or other early symptoms. If someone with symptoms needs to seek health care in person, Devine recommended calling in advance, and if that\u2019s not possible, showing up with a well-fitting mask.<\/p>\n

rschafir@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

officials say checking immunity status is a critical first step in preparation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,61,668,290],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-health","tag-public-health","tag-virus-diseases"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78032,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23239\/revisions\/78032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23239"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}