10 years later, who are the Mennonites affected by measles deaths in the United States?

US reports first measles death in a decade WASHINGTON (AP) — The first measles death in the United States in 10 years was reported Wednesday (Feb. 26) when U. S. government officials said a child died of the disease in rural West Texas

124 cases of measles reported in 9 counties since last month’s outbreak, AP reports The outbreak started in a rural Mennonite community in Gaines County where children are homeschooled and often haven’t been vaccinated.

Measles: What is it?

A virus causes measles, which is highly contagious, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. Some symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and a characteristic rash all over the body. The respiratory system is initially affected, and an infection can be deadly.

Mennonites are who?

One group of Anabaptist Christians are the Mennonites. Anabaptists basically think that only adults should be baptized because they can make the decision to do so.

Mennonite/Anabaptist doctrine emphasizes loyalty to God rather than to country. Mennonite involvement in politics and government is guided by this principle. In general, Mennonites have not voted or participated in politics, but this is changing, the website said.

Mennonites do not pay taxes to the government because they do not want to support war, so their money is not used to go to war.

One conservative group among the Mennonites in Texas where the outbreak is occurring is Old Colony Mennonites. They came from what is now Ukraine, then Russia, Canada, Mexico and then Texas.