In rural West Texas, measles has sickened nearly 150 people, most of them unvaccinated. A school-age child has died. The virus is spreading among Gaines County’s Mennonite community, where government mandates are not trusted.
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 health officials and other public authorities.
An outbreak of measles in West Texas that has led to more than 100 cases and one death has largely been linked to a local Mennonite community.
Close-knit religious community claims it has been made a scapegoat for wider issue of anti-vax sentiment in rural West Texas
The measles outbreak in West Texas is significantly impacting the region's Mennonite community. Here's what we know about them.
As the number of identified measles cases continues to grow in West Texas, one isolated religious community has been hit particularly hard: the Mennonites. Who are they, and why are they so vulnerable to the outbreak?
Measles had struck this West Texas town, sickening dozens of children, but at the Community Church of Seminole, more than 350 worshippers gathered for a Sunday service. Sitting
Gaines County is a vast, flat expanse far in the west of Texas: more than 1,500 square miles of sparsely populated farmland. And right now, this is the epicenter of a measles outbreak the likes of which this state hasn’t seen in more than 30 years.
After Mennonites in Gaines County were singled out in discourse about the spread of measles in Texas, local pastor Jake Fehr hopes to set the record straight.
The kindergarten vaccination rate against the measles in Gaines County is 82%, far below the 95% needed to achieve herd immunity.