The state's largest measles outbreak in 30 years has been largely tied to a Mennonite community in rural West Texas. Earlier this month, Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services,

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.

Gaines County in West Texas is at the heart of the ongoing measles outbreak. Non-medical vaccine exemption rates there are high.

Vaccine hesitancy has been rising for years in the United States. Doctors and parents in one rural county are confronting the consequences.

Texas health officials say the number of people with measles has increased to 146 in rural West Texas outbreak that led this week to the death of a school-aged child who was not vaccinated

Measles was considered to be eliminted in the U.S. in 2000, thanks to vaccine developments. But vaccination rates have dropped since the covid pandemic began.

The measles outbreak in Texas has quickly grown to 146 cases. One child has died. NBC News answers readers' questions about the disease, vaccines and government response.

I recognize the serious impact of this outbreak on families, children, and healthcare workers,” Kennedy wrote on X Friday night.