6 March 6-12, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents of Famer, possibly next year, and was also a four-time All-Pro. Tyron Smith finally left for the Jets last year but was a five-time All-Pro with the Cowboys. Travis Frederick, in his brief six-year career, was a three-time All- Pro. No one in franchise history had more first-team All-Pro selections than Martin. A young core is in place, led by a veteran quarterback going into his 10th season. If the Cowboys decide to move on from star edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence, who is now a free agent, Prescott will become the longest-tenured Cowboy. Will he finally be able to take this group of young talent be- yond the glass ceiling they’ve continually butt their heads against season after season? Zack Martin won’t be there to find out, let alone block for Prescott the way he has done at such a high level for so long. Thanks for being a badass, Zack. Like so many before you, we’re sorry this franchise couldn’t take advantage of the elite career you gave them. ▼ HEALTHCARE THERE’S A VAX FOR THAT MEASLES HIT NORTH TEXAS, MEASLES DEATH REPORTED IN WEST TEXAS. BY ALYSSA FIELDS A measles death has been reported in West Texas amid the largest out- break of the communicable disease in the state in over 20 years, The Associated Press reported on Feb. 26. The outbreak, traced back to an insular traditionalist reli- gious group in West Texas is raising con- cerns for the continued spread of the disease across the Lone Star State. Later on that same day, WFAA reported that a case of the measles had been confirmed in Rockwall County, making it the first occurrence in North Texas during this specific outbreak. As of Feb. 27 The more than 120 con- firmed cases reported by Texas Health and Human Services are concentrated in West Texas, aside from the Rockwall County case. Out of all those cases, however, only five of the infected were reportedly vaccinated. Eighteen of the cases in West Texas have re- sulted in hospitalizations. But Dr. Lara Johnson, a pediatrician and the chief medical officer at Covenant Chil- dren’s Hospital in Lubbock, told NBC News the count is likely much higher. The breakout originated in Gaines County, an hour-and-a- half south of Lubbock, and has rapidly spread across New Mexico and Texas, resulting in the largest outbreak in Texas since 1992 and the largest outbreak in the country since 2019. As of Feb. 26, the measles count in Texas is 124, and 81% of all affected are younger than 18. At the heart of the health crisis is a com- munity of Old Colony Mennonites, a deeply conservative religious group that believes in total isolation from the outside world, speaks in a Low German dialect and dresses mod- estly. The Old Colony Mennonites settled in Seminole, a tiny town in Gaines County. Sem- inole has the largest Mennonite population in Texas, and a 2010 report from The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal estimated a fifth of Gaines County identified as Mennonite. The group is a sector of Anabaptism, a Christian movement that retains traditional religious ideologies and practices. Some de- nominations of Anabaptism, like the Amish, also believe in rejecting all modernism, includ- ing Western medicine. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 18% of kindergarteners in Gaines County in 2023 had vaccine exemp- tions. Texas allows children to forego typically required vaccinations for several reasons, in- cluding religious beliefs. To reach a level of “herd immunity,” the point at which enough of a population is im- mune to infection so that those who aren’t immune are much less likely to come in con- tact with those infected, 95% of a population must be vaccinated or otherwise immune. That leaves Gaines County well below the standard and highly susceptible to communi- cable diseases. The Mennonite community in Seminole can be seen radical in its belief system, as the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren, a collection of 200 Mennonite con- gregations, encourages vaccinations. During the onslaught of COVID-19, USMB released a statement regarding vacci- nation exemptions. “Our current and histori- cal practices do not provide the necessary rationale for granting a religious exemption based on the theological convictions of the denomination. … Carefully and with personal integrity, consider whether that objection is rooted in your own personal religious convic- tions or if it is rooted in other concerns and/ or fears,” it said. The sentiment is repeated by Dallas’ own Mennonite congregation, Peace Mennonite Church. “Peace, and Mennonite Church USA, strongly encourage vaccination as a lifesav- ing intervention and a faithful witness to Christ’s call to love our neighbors,” said Samuel Voth Shrag of Peace Mennonite Church. “It is a simple way to help protect those around us, and it is a mistake not to get vaccinated or to vaccinate your children.” What Is Measles? Measles is a highly contagious airborne viral disease, signified by cold-like symptoms paired with a spotty full-body rash. Symp- toms don’t appear until 7-21 days after expo- sure, but the disease is at its most communicable 3-4 days before the telltale rash appears. The measles vaccine, developed in 1968, has a 97% efficacy rate when given in two doses. The vaccine is commonly distributed to infants between 12 to 15 months, and then a booster shot is given between the ages of 4-6, before a child enters school. In 1978, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aimed to eliminate measles from the United States within four years. It missed this goal but by 1981, the number of reported cases dropped by 80%. In 1993, within the first 30 days of his term, President Bill Clinton signed the Com- prehensive Childhood Immunization Act, which made the measles vaccine free for children. The disease was declared elimi- nated from the United States in 2000, de- spite random breakouts in the last 25 years. Without the vaccination, nine out of 10 individuals exposed to the measles virus will contract the disease. The Infectious Dis- eases Society of America says three out of 1,000 people who contract measles will die, and one in 20 will get pneumonia. Before the vaccine, an estimated 500 people died from the disease in the United States and 1,000 suffered brain swelling annually on average. The 2025 Texas Measles Spread Since the outbreak started Jan. 23, reports of measles exposure in South and Central Texas and Houston have emerged. Reports of positive measles tests came in Houston in late January, and measles alerts have been issued in San Marcos, San Anto- nio and New Braunfels. A Gaines County resident tested positive for measles a week after visiting Texas State University, where the campus has been placed under high alert. “[The outbreak] still has a lot of energy and steam behind it,” Dr. Peter Hotez, co-di- rector of the Texas Children’s Hospital Cen- ter for Vaccine Development told USA Today. “And that energy and steam are all the unvaccinated kids.” Lara Anton, a spokesperson for Texas’ health department, told USA Today that the lack of healthcare access in rural Texas was accelerating the spread of measles. She said that people living in “under-vaccinated” ar- eas where the disease is most rampant have to travel 30 to 40 miles to get preventative care. Texas Health and Human Services is di- recting concerned individuals in West Texas to the South Plains District Health District Clinic in Seminole to receive a vaccine. The measles outbreak is poorly timed with the recent appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, a known anti-vaccine activist, as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Ser- vices. Concern grew when Kennedy as emerged as a potential nominee given his history of spreading conspiracy theories re- lated to vaccines and autism. “I do believe that autism does come from vaccines,” Kennedy said in a 2023 interview with Fox News. In 1998 a controversial, and since de- bunked, small study linked the measles vac- cine and autism. The medical journal that originally published the study has retracted it, and the doctor accused of falsifying data to make his claim lost his medical license. But the report, and copycat studies, are still heavily cited by anti-vaccination activists. Dallas Risk Level The last reported measles case in Dallas County was in 2019, during a national out- break that started in New York and spread to 1,300 people. The outbreak, the largest in the contiguous United States since the de- velopment of the vaccine, put the country’s elimination status at risk. But Dallas could be at higher risk than before as lowering vaccination rates grow across the nation. In the 2023-2024 school year, 92% of kindergarteners in Dallas County had received the measles vaccine, below the threshold for herd immunity. In the 2019-2020 school year, 97% of Dallas kindergarteners had been vaccinated. Ac- cording to a recent KXAN report, the num- ber of vaccinated kindergartners in Texas has dropped about 3% from 2020 to 2024. Dr. Philip Huang, director and health au- thority for the Dallas County Health and Hu- man Services Department, told the Observer the overall risk of measles in Dallas is low, but pocket communities are still vulnerable. Huang noted that private schools, which tend to report lower-than-average vaccination rates, are especially vulnerable. “[Dallas is] not in particular risk. But there are certainly pockets of low vaccination that we’re wanting to minimize,” he said. “It’s an easy fix for people to protect themselves with the vaccine.” Huang credited the lowering vaccination rate with the increased vaccination skepti- cism that arose during the pandemic. “We’ve definitely seen politicization of vaccinations and people who are anti-vaxx- ers because of that,” he said. Vaccination rates are also lower amongst marginalized communities. During the pan- demic, the Texas Tribune reported vaccina- tion disparities between white and Black and Hispanic Texans, with white Texans re- ceiving the vaccine at a much higher rate than communities of color. “One of the things I know that we’re hear- ing from our staff on the front lines is that there are groups of people who are afraid to go to the clinics, perhaps because of immigra- tion status,” Huang said. “That’s another thing that we’re hearing about, that Unfair Park from p4 >> p8 Adobe Stock A measles outbreak in West Texas puts the whole state at risk as vaccination rates continue to fall.
