Measles

The West Texas measles outbreak has been declared over, after eight months and 762 connected cases in the state. However, our Samantha Larned says Lubbock’s Public Health is still hard at work, helping other communities prepare for these kinds of emergencies. A West Texas federal judge has reversed protection for the Lesser Prairie Chicken. Texas Public Radio's Brian Kirkpatrick reports the state agriculture commissioner is praising the decision.

After eight months and 762 cases in the state, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced the end of the West Texas measles outbreak. However, work continues for Lubbock Public Health.

As confirmed measles cases in Texas plateau, New Mexico has officially reached 100 cases since the regional outbreak was identified. The board for a West Texas school district has voted to change the name of two schools again. Our reporter Bishop Van Buren has more on the return to names paying tribute to a Confederate general. Entering the new school year, all Lubbock ISD athletic events will be cashless. Tickets can instead be purchased online, via app, or in-person using a QR code.

Faced with a skeptical religious community that became the center of the outbreak, public health officials say they may have pushed too hard on vaccine messaging.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it is withdrawing previous plans allowing the expansion of the oldest wildlife refuge in Texas. KTTZ’s Brad Burt reports on the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge and the decision. For the third week in a row, Texas has reported no new measles cases with the West Texas outbreak.

The number of cases tied to the months-long measles outbreak in Texas has not increased in three weeks, and a spokesman for the Department of State Health Services said, "It appears the height of the measles outbreak is behind us."

Officials in Kerrville are asking people to limit travel as search and recovery efforts continue following deadly flooding. KERA's Marcheta Fornoff reports members of Fort Worth country singer Pat Green’s family are among those unaccounted for following the floods. Gaines County, where the West Texas measles outbreak was first identified, is no longer a designated outbreak county, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Our Samantha Larned says Lamar County is the only remaining outbreak area.

The Texas Department of State Health Services has reported no new measles cases linked to the West Texas outbreak this week.

Civil liberties groups plan to challenge a newly-signed law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms. Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider says some of the same groups were successful in their suit against Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law. Lubbock County has been removed from the list of designated outbreak areas in the region's measles outbreak. Our Samantha Larned reports that Texas and New Mexico both appear to be maintaining a slower rate of new cases.

Many of the patients are being treated in Lubbock, a medical hub for the South Plains where the outbreak originated.