At least 124 cases of measles have been identified in Texas since late January, mostly among children and teenagers who are either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, officials say.

A child who wasn't vaccinated died in a measles outbreak in rural West Texas, officials there said Wednesday, the first U.S. death from the highly contagious respiratory disease since 2015. The school-aged child had been hospitalized and died Tuesday night,

Angela Solis, a pharmacist at Martin's Wellness and Compounding Pharmacies, said measles is the most contagious respiratory illness. She said interest in the MMR vaccine has increased at the pharmacies since the Texas measles outbreak began.