Federal officials defended their response to the continual spread of the measles virus, pushing back against accusations that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., had spread misinformation about the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.
“Secretary Kennedy has been very clear that vaccination is the most effective way to prevent measles. Any attempts to spin this are baseless,” Department of Health and Human Services Press Secretary Emily Hilliard told The Independent in an emailed statement. “Individuals should consult with their healthcare provider on what is best for them.”
The agency’s response comes as the U.S. continues to see outbreaks grow in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah, and experts warn further infections could put America’s decades-old measles elimination status at risk.
Some have placed blame for the nation’s current situation on Kennedy, whose response to a deadly outbreak in West Texas earlier this year was highly scrutinized.
Kennedy endorsed the measles-mumps-rubella shot, but also promoted unproven methods to treat the virus and made statements about the vaccine’s effectiveness, what was in it and associated deaths. Those claims were all refuted by doctors.
The former presidential candidate alleged that the vaccine’s effectiveness waned a lot more each year than science shows, claimed that the vaccine contains “aborted fetus debris” and said the vaccine causes deaths “every year,” without noting that the small number of deaths are in people who have compromised immune systems and aren’t supposed to receive the shots.
“There are a number of things that have made these ongoing outbreaks very difficult to control. One is that the decades of false information about measles vaccines that [Kennedy Jr.] and other people in the anti-vaccine movement have been spreading has led to a decline in vaccination rates,” Fiona Havers, an adjunct associate professor at the Emory School of Medicine and a former infectious disease staffer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently told The Hill.
“The U.S.’s political position in relation to health and vaccination is an outrage,” Rosana Richtmann, an infectious disease doctor and coordinator of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Disease’s immunization committee, told The Guardian in October, discussing the continent-wide measles surge. “It’s a problem for us.”
While the number of cases across the country has ballooned to more than 1,900 and hit a 25-year high, according to federal data, Hilliard told The Independent that the CDC “is not currently concerned that [an outbreak in South Carolina] will develop into a large, long-running outbreak as was seen in Texas earlier this year.”
She said South Carolina had not requested federal assistance. She did not mention simultaneous outbreaks in the U.S. Southwest.
South Carolina has seen 138 cases since July 9, according to the state’s Department of Public Health, largely centered around Spartanburg County. It’s not yet clear if those cases may be linked to Texas.
"Some cases are travel-related exposures or close contacts of known cases. Other cases have no identified source, suggesting that measles is circulating in the community and could spread further," the department said in a statement.
There is no cure for measles, but two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine are 97 percent effective against infection.
If these cases continue to spread, experts worry that the nation’s elimination status - held since 2000 - could be upended. The status indicates that there has not been continuous spread of the infectious disease for more than a year.
But, Hilliard said that America is “faring better than both Mexico and Canada in our overall burden” right now.
Canada recently lost its elimination status, as well as the status for North America, following various outbreaks and more than 5,100 cases. There has also been a resurgence of measles in Mexico.
“Elimination status depends on evidence of continuous transmission for 12 months, and our current assessment is that we have not met that criteria,” she added.
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