Diseases that spread quickly among populations, such as measles, tend to move like wildfire through tight-knit communities. That is exactly what is happening as a measles outbreak continues to move through a megachurch congregation in Texas.

Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, TX started experiencing incidents of the disease after a a visitor to the church contracted it while traveling in Indonesia. Soon afterward cases began popping up. The current number stands at 21, including 9 children of which the youngest is 4 months old.

Measles, which was all but eradicated after a vaccination was introduced in 1963, is not a common condition. The reason it has spread so readily through the Eagle Mountain community is due to the church’s stance on vaccinating children against certain diseases. The church subscribes to the belief that vaccinations could lead to conditions such as Autism in children. Such connections have been completely refuted by health officials.

Effects of the condition are similar to those of influenza except for the characteristic rash that forms on the body of the infected. Is it recommended that all children receive two round of vaccination against the disease, one at 12 months and another at 4 to 6 years old. It is also recommended that adults that have not been previously vaccinated or had the disease should receive vaccination. Eagle Mountain recommends that individuals seek healing through God unless the case is extraordinary.

[Image via JimtheEVO on YouTube]