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Measles outbreaks in Michigan, Pennsylvania end

The U.S. logged 122 more cases of measles this week — but only four of them in Texas — while the outbreaks in Pennsylvania and Michigan have officially ended.

There are 1,168 confirmed measles cases in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Health officials in Texas, where the nation’s biggest outbreak raged during the late winter and spring, said they’ll now post case counts only once a week — yet another sign the outbreak is slowing.

There are three other major outbreaks in North America. The longest, in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 2,009 cases from mid-October through June 3. The province logged its first death Thursday in a baby that got congenital measles but also had other preexisting conditions.

Another outbreak in Alberta, Canada, has sickened 761 as of Thursday. And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 1,940 measles cases and four deaths as of Friday, according to data from the state health ministry.

The Michigan outbreak ends with 10 confirmed measles cases. The CDC defines a measles outbreak as three or more cases that have a confirmed connection to each other. It is considered over when six weeks have passed without a new case in that specific outbreak; it does not mean all measles cases have ended in the state. Health officials in late May and early June reported two cases in Marquette County and one in Ontonagon County, the first found so far in the Upper Peninsula.

Other U.S. states with active outbreaks include Colorado, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio and Tennessee.

In the U.S., two elementary school-aged children in the epicenter in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico have died of measles this year. All were unvaccinated.

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

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