The Texas Health Department on Friday said that measles cases in the state increased from 422 to 481 earlier in the week, as the United States battles one of the largest outbreaks of the disease in the past decade.

The Texas Department of State Health Services said cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak that started in late January, rose to 315 from 280 on April 1, adding that hospitalizations rose from 42
to 56.

Separately, the New Mexico Department of Health said the state reported six additional measles cases from three days ago, taking the total to 54.

DAILY POST reports that most of New Mexico’s cases were reported in Lea County, which is adjacent to Gaines County in Texas.

According to the Mexican health department, 36 cases were in people who were not vaccinated, while 471 of the infected in Texas were either unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown.

Infectious disease experts were said to have warned last week that low vaccination rates can make the population vulnerable to highly contagious measles and the outbreak can spread further.

DAILY POST reports that measles cases have been reported in 20 U.S. jurisdictions so far this year — Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington.

Texas measles cases climb to almost 14% in 3 days