A measles outbreak in West Texas has topped 120 cases and resulted in the first U.S. death from the illness in a decade.

A child died from the measles after being hospitalized in Lubbock, the first death amid an outbreak that began last month in the South Plains region, health officials said. The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the school-aged child's death on Wednesday but did not offer any additional details about the child's age or identity.

After a pediatric patient in West Texas died of measles complications, hospital officials are urging the community to take the outbreak seriously, and to educate themselves about the virus and vaccination.