outbreak

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CDC data confirms US is 2 months away from losing measles elimination status

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Unsurprising

This 9171 subtype “continues, unfortunately uninterrupted, across multiple jurisdictions,” David Sugerman, who leads the CDC measles response, said on the call.

According to the Times, local health officials are pessimistic that they’ll be able to stamp out the virus’s spread, saying that vaccination efforts have had “limited” impact. As Ars reported previously, vaccination rates are dangerously low in two measles hotspots: northwestern Mohave County, Arizona, and the southwest health district of Utah. Vaccination rates among kindergartners in the 2024–2025 school year were 78.4 percent and 80.7 percent, respectively. That’s well below the 95 percent target needed to keep the virus from spreading onward in the communities.

In addition, public health officials in Arizona and Utah have reported barriers to responding to the outbreak. Around a quarter of cases don’t know how they were exposed, suggesting cases and exposures are being missed. In late October, health officials in Salt Lake County, Utah, said that a person likely infected with measles refused to cooperate with their investigation, leaving them unable to confirm the probable case.

David Kimberlin, who sits on a panel of experts that analyzes measles data for the United States’ elimination status review, told the Times, “It would not surprise me in the least if there’s continued spread across these next several months.”

To date, the CDC has tallied 1,723 measles cases across 42 states. Most (87 percent) of those cases were linked to outbreaks, of which there have been 45 this year. For context, there were 16 outbreaks and a total of 285 measles cases in the US last year. This year’s measles cases mark a 33-year high.

CDC data confirms US is 2 months away from losing measles elimination status Read More »

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Formula with “cleanest ingredients” recalled after 15 babies get botulism

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Infant botulism

The US sees around 100 cases of botulism in infants each year. The potentially deadly disease is caused by a potent neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum and related species. These bacteria can form hardy spores that are ubiquitous in the environment, including in dust, water, and soil. When the spores germinate, the growing bacteria produce the toxin. This toxin can kill by blocking the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in motor neurons that would activate muscle movement. The result is flaccid paralysis that spreads down the body.

People can develop botulism in a variety of ways, including via infected wounds or by inhaling spores. Generally, foodborne botulism occurs when people eat the toxin directly, such as in improperly canned foods where the bacteria grew. But babies have their own unique form of botulism when they ingest just the spores.

In humans older than about 12 months, the stomach’s acidity is usually enough to kill off botulism-causing spores. But infants have lower gastric acidity, and their immune responses and protective gut bacterial communities aren’t fully established yet. Thus, if they ingest the spores, the bacteria can start growing in their gastrointestinal tracts—and start producing toxin, causing infantile botulism. Symptoms usually develop 10 to 30 days after ingestion. About 70 percent of all botulism cases are in infants.

Honey is one of the most well-known sources of botulism-causing spores for infants, accounting for about 20 percent of cases. But environmental sources are also key culprits, such as living near construction sites as well as dust debris from vacuum cleaners.

The common early symptoms of botulism in infants are constipation, poor feeding, loss of head control, and difficulty swallowing. As the disease progresses, shallow breathing and overall floppiness develops. About half of all babies with botulism will need to be intubated, even if they’re treated with BabyBIG. A century ago, infant botulism had a 90 percent fatality rate, but today most infants make a full recovery, though it can take weeks to months.

Formula with “cleanest ingredients” recalled after 15 babies get botulism Read More »

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Measles outbreak investigation in Utah blocked by patient who refuses to talk

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A measles investigation amid a large, ongoing outbreak at the Arizona-Utah border has hit a roadblock as the first probable case identified in the Salt Lake City area refuses to work with health officials, the local health department reported this week.

There have been over 150 cases collectively across the two states, mostly in northwestern Mohave County, Arizona, and the southwest health district of Utah, in the past two months. Both areas have abysmally low vaccination rates: In Mohave County, only 78.4 percent of kindergartners in the 2024–2025 school year were vaccinated against measles, according to state records. In the southwest district of Utah, only 80.7 percent of kindergartners in the 2024–2025 school year had records of measles vaccination. Public health experts say vaccination coverage of 95 percent is necessary to keep the disease from spreading in a community.

While the outbreak has largely exploded along the border, cases are also creeping to the north, toward Salt Lake County, which encompasses the city. Utah County, which sits just south of Salt Lake County, has identified eight cases, including a new case reported today.

Uncooperative case

Salt Lake County likely has a new one, too—the first for the county this year—as well as possible exposures. But, they can’t confirm it.

County health officials said that a health care provider in the area contacted them late on Monday to tell them about a patient who very likely has measles. The officials then spent a day reaching out to the person, who refused to answer questions or cooperate in any way. That included refusing to share location information so that other people could be notified that they were potentially exposed to one of the most infectious viruses known.

“The patient has declined to be tested, or to fully participate in our disease investigation, so we will not be able to technically confirm the illness or properly do contact tracing to warn anyone with whom the patient may have had contact,” Dorothy Adams, executive director of Salt Lake County Health Department, said in a statement. “But based on the specific symptoms reported by the healthcare provider and the limited conversation our investigators have had with the patient, this is very likely a case of measles in someone living in Salt Lake County.”

Measles outbreak investigation in Utah blocked by patient who refuses to talk Read More »

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Measles outbreak in SC sends 150 unvaccinated kids into 21-day quarantine

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Health officials in South Carolina are warning that the highly infectious measles virus is spreading undetected in communities in the northern part of the state, specifically Spartanburg and Greenville counties.

Last week, officials in Greenville identified an eighth measles case that is potentially linked to the outbreak. Seven outbreak cases had been confirmed since September 25 in neighboring Spartanburg, where transmission was identified in two schools: Fairforest Elementary and Global Academy, a public charter school.

Across those two schools, at least 153 unvaccinated children were exposed to the virus and have been put in a 21-day quarantine, during which they are barred from attending school, state officials said in a press conference. Twenty-one days is the maximum incubation period, spanning from when a person is exposed to when they would develop a rash if infected.

It’s unclear how the latest case in Greenville became infected with the virus and how they may link to the nearby Spartanburg cases.

“What this case tells us is that there is active, unrecognized community transmission of measles occurring in the Upstate [northern region of South Carolina], which makes it vital to ensure that the public have received their measles vaccinations,” the South Carolina Department of Public Health said in an announcement.

The two recommended doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine are about 97 percent effective at blocking the infection, and that protection is considered lifelong. Without that protection, the virus is extremely contagious, infecting 90 percent of unvaccinated people who are exposed. The virus spreads easily through the air, lingering in the airspace of a room for up to two hours after an infected person has left.

Measles outbreak in SC sends 150 unvaccinated kids into 21-day quarantine Read More »

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Repeat creepy meat problems at Boar’s Head plants draw congressional scrutiny

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“The totality of these issues demonstrate a repeated pattern of food safety negligence that jeopardized Americans’ public health, and sadly, lives were lost,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

While calling the ongoing, repeated problems “appalling,” they said they were “less than confident” that the Jarratt plant could safely reopen.

“It seems your company continues to show a disregard for food safety and for the public health of the American people,” they wrote.

The letter was addressed to Boar’s Head Chief Operating Officer Larry Helfant. It ends with a request for him to appear before the Congressional Food Safety Caucus—which is chaired by DeLauro—to answer questions about what’s going on at the company’s facilities. The Congress members gave Helfant until September 26 to respond.

In a statement emailed to Ars Technica, a Boar’s Head spokesperson said:

“In our more than 120-year history, what happened at our Jarratt facility was the first time that such an event occurred. We moved quickly, aggressively and decisively in close collaboration with regulators and leading food safety experts to identify the root cause of the problem and implement enhancements to our food manufacturing nationwide to prevent something like this from ever happening again.”

The company did not respond to questions from Ars Technica about the letter from lawmakers or whether Helfant would agree to testify before Congress. The company has also not responded to questions about the problems identified at the other facilities.

This post has been updated to include Boar’s Head’s statement to Ars Technica.

Repeat creepy meat problems at Boar’s Head plants draw congressional scrutiny Read More »

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Boar’s Head to reopen plant as mold and funky meat problems pop up elsewhere

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Boar’s Head plans to reopen the Jarratt, Virginia, facility at the center of a deadly Listeria outbreak last year despite federal inspections continuing to find sanitation violations at three of the food company’s other facilities, according to federal records obtained by The Associated Press.

The AP obtained 35 pages of inspection reports via a Freedom of Information Act Request. Those reports cover inspections between January 1 and July 23 at three other Boar’s Head facilities: Forrest City, Arkansas; New Castle, Indiana; and Petersburg, Virginia. Overall, the reports reveal a suite of violations, including mold, condensation dripping over food areas, overflowing trash, meat and fat residue built up on walls and equipment, drains blocked with meat scraps, and pooling meat juice. The reports also recorded staff who didn’t wear the proper protective hairnets and aprons—and didn’t wash their hands.

In one violation, reported in the Petersburg facility, inspectors found meat waste collecting under equipment, including “5-6 hams, 4 large pieces of meat and a large quantity of pooling meat juice.”

The problems echo the sanitation violations recorded at the Jarratt plant before contamination with Listeria—particularly linked to the company’s liverwurst—caused an outbreak that led officials to shut it down. That outbreak spanned July to November of last year and sickened 61 people across 19 states, hospitalizing 60 and killing 10. Inspection reports revealed problems with mold, water leaks, dirty equipment and rooms, meat debris stuck on walls and equipment, various bugs, and, at one point, puddles of blood on the floor.

Amid the outbreak response, Boar’s Head vowed to make big changes to improve its food safety systems. Those included setting up a panel of food safety advisers, which included Frank Yiannas, a former Food and Drug Administration official, and Mindy Brashears, who served as the US Department of Agriculture undersecretary for food safety during Trump’s first term and has been nominated for the position again in Trump’s second.

Boar’s Head to reopen plant as mold and funky meat problems pop up elsewhere Read More »

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“It’s shocking”: Massive raw milk outbreak from 2023 finally reported

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The outbreak occurred in 2023–2024, but little information had been shared about it.

On October 20, 2023, health officials in the County of San Diego, California, put out a press release warning of a Salmonella outbreak linked to raw (unpasteurized) milk. Such an outbreak is not particularly surprising; the reason the vast majority of milk is pasteurized (heated briefly to kill germs) is because milk can easily pick up nasty pathogens in the farmyard that can cause severe illnesses, particularly in children. It’s the reason public health officials have long and strongly warned against consuming raw milk.

At the time of the press release, officials in San Diego County had identified nine residents who had been sickened in the outbreak. Of those nine, three were children, and all three children had been hospitalized.

On October 25, the county put out a second press release, reporting that the local case count had risen to 12, and the suspected culprit—raw milk and raw cream from Raw Farm LLC—had been recalled. The same day, Orange County’s health department put out its own press release, reporting seven cases among its residents, including one in a 1-year-old infant.

Both counties noted that the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which had posted the recall notice, was working on the outbreak, too. But it doesn’t appear that CDPH ever followed up with its own press release about the outbreak. The CDPH did write social media posts related to the outbreak: One on October 26, 2023, announced the recall; a second on November 30, 2023, noted “a recent outbreak” of Salmonella cases from raw milk but linked to general information about the risks of raw milk; and a third on December 7, 2023, linked to general information again with no mention of the outbreak.

But that seems to be the extent of the information at the time. For anyone paying attention, it might have seemed like the end of the story. But according to the final outbreak investigation report—produced by CDPH and local health officials—the outbreak actually ran from September 2023 to March 2024, spanned five states, and sickened at least 171 people. That report was released last week, on July 24, 2025.

Shocking outbreak

The report was published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report describes the outbreak as “one of the largest foodborne outbreaks linked to raw milk in recent US history.” It also said that the state and local health department had issued “extensive public messaging regarding this outbreak.”

According to the final data, of the 171 people, 120 (70 percent) were children and teens, including 67 (39 percent) who were under the age of 5. At least 22 people were hospitalized, nearly all of them (82 percent) were children and teens. Fortunately, there were no deaths.

“I was just candidly shocked that there was an outbreak of 170 plus people because it had not been reported—at all,” Bill Marler, a personal injury lawyer specializing in food poisoning outbreaks, told Ars Technica in an interview. With the large number of cases, the high percentage of kids, and cases in multiple states, “it’s shocking that they never publicized it,” he said. “I mean, what’s the point?”

Ars Technica reached out to CDPH seeking answers about why there wasn’t more messaging and information about the outbreak during and soon after the investigation. At the time this story was published, several business days had passed and the department had told Ars in a follow-up email that it was still working on a response. Shortly after publication, CDPH provided a written statement, but it did not answer any specific questions, including why CDPH did not release its own press release about the state-wide outbreak or make case counts public during the investigation.

“CDPH takes its charge to protect public health seriously and works closely with all partners when a foodborne illness outbreak is identified,” the statement reads. It then referenced only the social media posts and the press releases from San Diego County and Orange County mentioned previously in this story as examples of its public messaging.

“This is pissing me off”

Marler, who represents around two dozen of the 171 people sickened in the outbreak, was one of the first people to get the full picture of the outbreak from California officials. In July of 2024, he obtained an interim report of the investigation from state health officials. At that point, they had documented at least 165 of the cases. And in December 2024, he got access to a preliminary report of the full investigation dated October 15, 2024, which identified the final 171 cases and appears to contain much of the data published in the MMWR, which has had its publication rate slowed amid the second Trump administration.

Getting that information from California officials was not easy, Marler told Ars. “There was one point in time where they wouldn’t give it to me. And I sent them a copy of a subpoena and I said, ‘you know, I’ve been working with public health for 32 years. I’m a big supporter of public health. I believe in your mission, but,’ I said, ‘this is pissing me off.'”

At that point, Marler knew that it was a multi-county outbreak and the CDPH and the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture were involved. He knew there was data. But it took threatening a subpoena to get it. “I’m like ‘OK, you don’t give it to me. I’m going to freaking drop a subpoena on you, and the court’s going to force you to give it.’ And they’re like, ‘OK, we’ll give it to you.'”

The October 15 state report he finally got a hold of provides a breakdown of the California cases. It reports that San Diego had a total of 25 cases (not just the 12 initially reported in the press releases), and Orange County had 19 (not just the seven). Most of the other 171 cases were spread widely across California, spanning 35 local health departments. Only four of the 171 cases were outside of California—one each in New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. It’s unclear how people in these states were exposed, given that it’s against federal law to sell raw milk for human consumption across state lines. But two of the four people sickened outside of California specifically reported that they consumed dairy from Raw Farm without going to California.

Of the 171 cases, 159 were confirmed cases, which were defined as being confirmed using whole genome sequencing that linked the Salmonella strain causing a person’s infection to the outbreak strain also found in raw milk samples and a raw milk cheese sample from Raw Farm. The remaining 12 probable cases were people who had laboratory-confirmed Salmonella infections and also reported consuming Raw Farm products within seven days prior to falling ill.

“We own it”

In an interview with Ars Technica, the owner and founder of Raw Farm, Mark McAfee, disputed much of the information in the MMWR study and the October 2024 state report. He claimed that there were not 171 cases—only 19 people got sick, he said, presumably referring to the 19 cases collectively reported in the San Diego and Orange County press releases in October 2023.

“We own it. It’s ours. We’ve got these 19 people,” he told Ars.

But he said he did not believe that the genomic data was accurate and that the other 140 cases confirmed with genetic sequencing were not truly connected to his farm’s products. He also doubted that the outbreak spanned many months and into early 2024. McAfee says that a single cow that had been purchased close to the start of the outbreak had been the source of the Salmonella. Once that animal had been removed from the herd by the end of October 23, subsequent testing was negative. He also outright did not accept that testing identified the Salmonella outbreak strain in the farm’s raw cheese, which was reported in the MMWR and the state report.

Overall, McAfee downplayed the outbreak and claimed that raw milk has significant health benefits, such as being a cure for asthma—a common myth among raw milk advocates that has been debunked. He rejects the substantial number of scientific studies that have refuted the variety of unproven health claims made by raw-milk advocates. (You can read a thorough run-down of raw milk myths and the data refuting them in this post by the Food and Drug Administration.) McAfee claims that he and his company are “pioneers” and that public health experts who warn of the demonstrable health risks are simply stuck in the past.

Outbreak record

McAfee is a relatively high-profile raw milk advocate in California. For example, health secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly a customer. Amid an outbreak of H5N1 on his farm last year, McAfee sent Ars press material claiming that McAfee “has been asked by the RFK transition team to apply for the position of ‘FDA advisor on Raw Milk Policy and Standards Development.'” But McAfee’s opinion of Kennedy has soured since then. In an interview with Ars last week, he said Kennedy “doesn’t have the guts” to loosen federal regulations on raw milk.

On his blog, Marler has a running tally of at least 11 outbreaks linked to the farm’s products.

In this outbreak, illnesses were caused by Salmonella Typhimurium, which generally causes diarrhea, fever, vomiting, and abdominal pain. In some severe cases, the infection can spread outside the gastrointestinal tract and into the blood, brain, bones, and joints, according to the CDC.

Marler noted that, for kids, infections can be severe. “Some of these kids who got sick were hospitalized for extended periods of time,” he said of the some of the cases he is representing in litigation. And those hospitalizations can lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses, he said. “It’s not just tummy aches.”

This post has been updated to include the response from CDPH.

Photo of Beth Mole

Beth is Ars Technica’s Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes.

“It’s shocking”: Massive raw milk outbreak from 2023 finally reported Read More »

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Controversial doc gets measles while treating unvaccinated kids—keeps working

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In the video with Edwards that has just come to light, CHD once again uses the situation to disparage MMR vaccines. Someone off camera asks Edwards if he had never had measles before, to which he replies that he had gotten an MMR vaccine as a kid, though he didn’t know if he had gotten one or the recommended two doses.

“That doesn’t work then, does it?” the off-camera person asks, referring to the MMR vaccine. “No, apparently not, ” Edwards replies. “Just wear[s] off.”

It appears Edwards had a breakthrough infection, which is rare, but it does occur. They’re more common in people who have only gotten one dose, which is possibly the case for Edwards.

A single dose of MMR is 93 percent effective against measles, and two doses are 97 percent effective. In either case, the protection is considered lifelong.

While up to 97 percent effectiveness is extremely protective, some people do not mount protective responses and are still vulnerable to an infection upon exposure. However, their illnesses will likely be milder than if they had not been vaccinated. In the video, Edwards described his illness as a “mild case.”

The data on the outbreak demonstrates the effectiveness of vaccination. As of April 18, Texas health officials have identified 597 measles cases, leading to 62 hospitalizations and two deaths in school-aged, unvaccinated children with no underlying medical conditions. Most of the cases have been in unvaccinated children. Of the 597 cases, 12 (2 percent) had received two MMR doses previously, and 10 (1.6 percent) had received one dose. The remaining 96 percent of cases are either unvaccinated or have no record of vaccination.

Toward the end of the video, Edwards tells CHD he’s “doing what any doctor should be doing.”

Controversial doc gets measles while treating unvaccinated kids—keeps working Read More »

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Measles quickly spreading in Kansas counties with alarmingly low vaccination

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The cases in Kansas are likely part of the mushrooming outbreak that began in West Texas in late January. On March 13, Kansas reported a single measles case, the first the state had seen since 2018. The nine cases reported last week had ties to that original case.

Spreading infections and misinformation

On Wednesday, KDHE Communications Director Jill Bronaugh told Ars Technica over email that the department has found a genetic link between the first Kansas case and the cases in West Texas, which has similarly spread swiftly in under-vaccinated communities and also spilled over to New Mexico and Oklahoma.

“While genetic sequencing of the first Kansas case reported is consistent with an epidemiological link to the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks, the source of exposure is still unknown,” Bronaugh told Ars.

Bronaugh added that KDHE, along with local health departments, is continuing to work to track down people who may have been exposed to measles in affected counties.

In Texas, meanwhile, the latest outbreak count has hit 327 across 15 counties, mostly children and almost entirely unvaccinated. Forty cases have been hospitalized, and one death has been reported—a 6-year-old unvaccinated girl who had no underlying health conditions.

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that as measles continues to spread, parents have continued to eschew vaccines and instead embraced “alternative” treatments, including vitamin A, which has been touted by anti-vaccine advocate and current US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Vitamin A accumulates in the body and can be toxic with large doses or extended use. Texas doctors told the Times that they’ve now treated a handful of unvaccinated children who had been given so much vitamin A that they had signs of liver damage.

“I had a patient that was only sick a couple of days, four or five days, but had been taking it for like three weeks,” one doctor told the Times.

In New Mexico, cases are up to 43, with two hospitalizations and one death in an unvaccinated adult who did not seek medical care. In Oklahoma, officials have identified nine cases, with no hospitalizations or deaths so far.

Measles quickly spreading in Kansas counties with alarmingly low vaccination Read More »

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Measles arrives in Kansas, spreads quickly in undervaccinated counties

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On Thursday, the county on the northern border of Stevens, Grant County, also reported three confirmed cases, which were also linked to the first case in Stevens. Grant County is in a much better position to handle the outbreak than its neighbors; its one school district, Ulysses, reported 100 percent vaccination coverage for kindergartners in the 2023–2024 school year.

Outbreak risk

So far, details about the fast-rising cases are scant. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has not published another press release about the cases since March 13. Ars Technica reached out to KDHE for more information but did not hear back before this story’s publication.

The outlet KWCH 12 News out of Wichita published a story Thursday, when there were just six cases reported in just Grant and Stevens Counties, saying that all six were in unvaccinated people and that no one had been hospitalized. On Friday, KWCH updated the story to note that the case count had increased to 10 and that the health department now considers the situation an outbreak.

Measles is an extremely infectious virus that can linger in airspace and on surfaces for up to two hours after an infected person has been in an area. Among unvaccinated people exposed to the virus, 90 percent will become infected.

Vaccination rates have slipped nationwide, creating pockets that have lost herd immunity and are vulnerable to fast-spreading, difficult-to-stop outbreaks. In the past, strong vaccination rates prevented such spread, and in 2000, the virus was declared eliminated, meaning there was no continuous spread of the virus over a 12-month period. Experts now fear that the US will lose its elimination status, meaning measles will once again be considered endemic to the country.

So far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has documented 378 measles cases as of Thursday, March 20. That figure is already out of date.

On Friday, the Texas health department reported 309 cases in its ongoing outbreak. Forty people have been hospitalized, and one unvaccinated child with no underlying medical conditions has died. The outbreak has spilled over to New Mexico and Oklahoma. In New Mexico, officials reported Friday that the case count has risen to 42 cases, with two hospitalizations and one death in an unvaccinated adult. In Oklahoma, the case count stands at four.

Measles arrives in Kansas, spreads quickly in undervaccinated counties Read More »

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US measles cases reach 5-year high; 15 states report cases, Texas outbreak grows

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The US has now recorded over 300 measles cases just three months into 2025, exceeding the yearly case counts for all years after 2019. The bulk of this year’s cases are from an outbreak that erupted in an undervaccinated county in West Texas in late January, which has since spread to New Mexico and Oklahoma.

As of the afternoon of March 14, Texas reports 259 cases across 11 counties, 34 hospitalizations, and one death, which occurred in an unvaccinated 6-year-old girl. New Mexico reports 35 cases across two counties, two hospitalizations, and one death. That death occurred in an unvaccinated adult who did not seek medical treatment and tested positive for the virus posthumously. The cause of death is still under investigation. Oklahoma reports two probable cases linked to the outbreak.

In addition to Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, 12 other states have reported at least one confirmed measles case since the start of the year: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this year has seen three measles outbreaks, defined as three or more related cases.

As of March 13, the CDC reported 301 confirmed cases, which do not include 36 new cases reported today in Texas and two in New Mexico.

“Measles is back”

Since 2000, when health officials victoriously declared measles eliminated from the US thanks to concerted vaccination campaigns, only three other years have had higher tallies of measles cases. In 2014, the country saw 667 measles cases. In 2018, there were 381 cases. And in 2019—when the country was on the verge of losing its elimination status—there was a startling 1,274 cases, largely driven by massive outbreaks in New York. Measles is considered eliminated if there is no continuous spread in the country over the course of at least 12 months. (This is not to be confused with “eradication,” which is defined as “permanent reduction to zero of the worldwide incidence” of an infectious disease. Smallpox and rinderpest are the only pathogens humans have eradicated.)

US measles cases reach 5-year high; 15 states report cases, Texas outbreak grows Read More »

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Texas measles outbreak spills into third state as cases reach 258

health, Infectious disease, measles, MMR, New Mexico, Oklahoma, outbreak, robert f kennedy jr, texas, vaccination / /

Texas and New Mexico

Meanwhile, the Texas health department on Tuesday provided an outbreak update, raising the case count to 223, up 25 from the 198 Texas cases reported Friday. Of the Texas cases, 29 have been hospitalized and one has died—a 6-year-old girl from Gaines County, the outbreak’s epicenter. The girl was unvaccinated and had no known underlying health conditions.

The outbreak continues to be primarily in unvaccinated children. Of the 223 cases, 76 are in ages 0 to 4, and 98 are between ages 5 and 17. Of the cases, 80 are unvaccinated, 138 lack vaccination status, and five are known to have received at least one dose of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine.

One dose of MMR is estimated to be 93 percent effective against measles, and two doses offer 98 percent protection. It’s not unexpected to see a small number of breakthrough cases in large, localized outbreaks.

Across the border from Gaines County in Texas sits Lea County, where New Mexico officials have now documented 32 cases, with an additional case reported in neighboring Eddy County, bringing the state’s current total to 33. Of those cases, one person has been hospitalized and one person (not hospitalized) died. The death was an adult who did not seek medical care and tested positive for measles only after death. The cause of their death is under investigation.

Of New Mexico’s 33 cases, 27 were unvaccinated and five did not have a vaccination status, and one had received at least one MMR dose. Eighteen of the 33 cases are in adults, 13 are ages 0 to 17, and two cases have no confirmed age.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a travel alert over the measles outbreak. “With spring and summer travel season approaching in the United States, CDC emphasizes the important role that clinicians and public health officials play in preventing the spread of measles,” the agency said in the alert. It advised clinicians to be vigilant in identifying potential measles cases.

The agency stressed the importance of vaccination, putting in bold: “Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination remains the most important tool for preventing measles,” while saying that “all US residents should be up to date on their MMR vaccinations.”

US health secretary and long-time anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, meanwhile, has been emphasizing cod liver oil, which does not prevent measles, and falsely blaming the outbreak on poor nutrition.

Texas measles outbreak spills into third state as cases reach 258 Read More »