The four new cases are among people who are in the same household as the original case, which was identified on Feb. 5.

ROCKWALL, Texas — Five cases of measles have been confirmed in the same household in Rockwall, health officials said.

The first case, which officials say is a preschool child, was identified on Feb. 5. The other four cases are among school age children, according to Rockwall health officials. 

Rockwall Health Authority Dr. Dirk Perritt told WFAA the children were pulled from school before they showed symptoms. The family had recently returned from international travel, health officials said, and the strain of measles matches a known international version. 

“Unfortunately, the the children have not been vaccinated. And so when you’re not vaccinated, you have a 90% chance of contracting measles,” Perritt said. “The good news is it’s all a single family housed under one home. And they’ve been quarantining during the infectivity period, so it does not put the public at risk.”

The health department emphasized that people who are fully vaccinated against measles “have a very low risk of contracting the disease.”

Younger children who have not had both doses of the MMR vaccine against measles are at higher risk of measles, as well as people with weakened immune systems.

Measles symptoms include high fever, cough, runny nose, red and water eyes and white spots inside the mouth, officials said.

Measles is infectious for four days before and four days after a rash appears, officials have said. Measles spreads through infectious droplets and the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. It’s important to note that the measles virus can remain infectious in the air up to two hours after an infected person leaves.

Texas experienced a measles outbreak in 2025, mostly in West Texas, but the outbreak was reported to be over in August, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

It’s not clear how many other measles cases are currently in the state, outside of the Rockwall cases, although more than 700 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. in 2026. In 2025, there were 2,276 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S., according to the CDC.

Rockwall County is continuing to monitor the two healthcare providers the family went to for help to look for any signs of spread to anyone else.

“Just for the public to understand, if you’ve been vaccinated, you’re safe, Perritt added. “You don’t need to take any other protection. If you’ve not been vaccinated. You might want to reconsider for your children.”

“The risk assessment you made when you decided not to vaccinate your child is changed. We have an outbreak of measles in the United States,” Perritt said of the current situation in South Carolina. “And, I would just, implore our families to reconsider that risk and potentially vaccinate your children if they have not been.”