PARIS -- In what could be a growing health crisis for the state, health officials in Lamar County on Thursday announced four confirmed cases of measles in their area Thursday evening.
Paris-Lamar County Health District officials said the extremely contagious virus had been diagnosed in four patients who range in age from 5 months to adulthood.
"The Health District, with the support of (DSHS) Region 4/5, are actively investigating the cases and conducting contact tracing to identify possible exposures and limit further spread of the disease," the agency said in a statement posted on its website. "Due to the highly contagious nature of measles, additional cases may occur, especially in unvaccinated people."
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The health district said the infected patients, who were not vaccinated, had traveled to Gaines County, which is located in West Texas and the site of earlier confirmed measles cases.
The previous measles cases had largely been confined to West Texas and New Mexico, which have logged more than 250 cases total. As of this week, Texas alone has reported at least 223 measles cases.
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Lamar County is located in northeast Texas, roughly 100 miles northeast of Dallas.
Health officials did not say in their online statement how they learned about the cases.
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They did, however, issue a warning to local residents.
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"Measles is a serious yet preventable disease," said Dr. Amanda Green, of the Paris-Lamar County health office. "Staying up to date on vaccinations is the most effective way to safeguard yourself, your loved ones, and the community from this highly contagious illness.
Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that's airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.
In addition to Texas, measles cases have been reported in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an outbreak as three or more related cases -- and there have been three clusters that qualified as outbreaks in 2025.