Measles outbreak in Texas major test for RFK Jr.

There is concern about the growing measles outbreak in Texas, where one unvaccinated child died and nearly 20 others have been hospitalized with serious complications. The number of people with measles in Texas increased to 146, health officials said on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.

This marks the first major test for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

“The decision to vaccinate is a personal one,” Kennedy wrote in an opinion piece published on the HHS website on Sunday, March 3, 2025. 

Kennedy also wrote that health officials need to provide accurate information on vaccine safety.

Kennedy previously made antivaccine comments, saying “no vaccine is safe and effective” and tying vaccines to the rise of autism.

Studies have found that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and effective: Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective and studies have shown there’s no link between autism and the MMR vaccine.

During the Texas outbreak, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health officials have continued to recommend vaccination against measles.

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said that due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities. The majority of the outbreak is among people who are not vaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.

The virus has largely spread through rural, oil-ring-dotted West Texas, with most cases occurring in a “close-knit, under-vaccinated” Mennonite Community, DSHS spokesperson Lara Anton said.

Measles cases have risen in recent years, with 285 U.S. cases reported last year, the most since 2019 when prolonged outbreaks among the under-vaccinated population in New York threatened elimination status, according to CDC. Declining vaccination rates are driving up the number of cases.

Joining us to discuss this measles outbreak was Will Humble, Executive Director of the Arizona Public Health Association.