1st measles death reported in West Texas outbreak that's infected over 120

A person who was hospitalised with measles has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month.

Lubbock city spokesperson Lauren Adams confirmed the death Wednesday. It wasn't clear the age of the patient, who died overnight.

Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 124 cases across nine counties, the state health department said Tuesday. There are also nine cases in eastern New Mexico.

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most kids will recover from the measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.

The outbreak is largely spreading in the Mennonite community in an area where small towns are separated by vast stretches of oil rig-dotted open land but connected due to people travelling between towns for work, church, grocery shopping and other day-to-day errands.