A measles outbreak in western Texas that began last month keeps growing, from 58 cases last week to 124 cases as of Tuesday.

Gaines County, which had 45 of the 58 cases reported by Feb. 18, has 80 of the 124 cases. Neighboring Terry County has seen its numbers rise from nine cases to 21, and Yoakum County has gone up from two cases to five, the Texas Department of State Health Services said in a release.

New cases have appeared in four additional counties: Ector with two, Martin with three, Dallam with four and Dawson with seven, per the TDSHS data.

By age, 39 of the patients in Texas are between newborn and 4 years old, 62 are 5-17 years old, and 18 are 18 and up.

Measles are a contagious disease that can cause a fever of more than 104 degrees, red and watery eyes, coughing, rash and runny nose. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is recommended to prevent catching measles, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website, with one dose being 93% effective and two being 97% effective.

Only five of the patients in Texas are confirmed to have been vaccinated, with the rest unvaccinated for measles or with an unknown vaccination status. There have been 18 hospitalizations due to the outbreak, TDSHS said.

Lea County, New Mexico, which borders Gaines County, has also seen an outbreak of measles. As of Tuesday, four cases affected juveniles and five hit adults in the county, the New Mexico Department of Health said on its website.

New Mexico officials didn’t say whether any of the patients had been hospitalized, nor did they specify vaccination status.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.