The first death for measles is reported in the Western Focar in Texas, which has been infected more than 120 people

Lubbock, Texas (AP) – a measles hospitalized person died in West Texas, marking the first death in a outbreak that started at the end of last month.

The spokesman of the Health Science Center Texas Tech Tech University, Melissa Whitfield, confirmed death on Wednesday. The age of the patient, who died overnight, was not immediately clear.

The covenant children’s hospital in Lubbock did not respond immediately to a comment request.

The measles outbreak in the rural area West Texas has grown to 124 cases of nine countiesthe State Health Department said on Tuesday. There are also nine cases in East New Mexico.

Rasle is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to nine out of 10 susceptible people will receive the virus if exposed, according to American centers for disease control and prevention. Most children will recover from measles if they get it, but the infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.

The outbreak spreads largely in the menonite community in an area where small cities are separated by wide open land stretches, but connected because of people traveling between cities for work, church, food shopping and other day missions day.

By Devi Shastri with Associated Press