This week, three separate states, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin, all reported measles-related deaths
Today, under Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s watch, the U.S. has reported 5,182 confirmed cases of measles — less than one month after surpassing 4,000 cases and more than doubling the number of cases this year in the last three months. In the past month, the CDC reported the two highest weekly case increases in the last 30 years, even as RFK Jr. insists that the Trump administration has “done better at controlling the outbreaks than any other country in the world.” Trump and RFK Jr. have now presided over more measles cases since taking office than the previous 30 years combined.
This week, three separate states, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin, all reported measles-related deaths — matching the number of deaths reported in the U.S. from all of 2001 to 2022.
Next week, the Pan American Health Organization will meet to review the U.S.’ measles elimination status — and the U.S. is currently poised to lose its status more than 25 years after measles was considered eradicated.
In response, DNC Spokesperson Jaelin O’Halloran released the following statement:
“Donald Trump and RFK Jr. have put American children and families in danger, as preventable diseases that were once eliminated spread rapidly — and the death toll keeps rising. RFK Jr. continues to downplay the severity of deadly outbreaks while spreading dangerous misinformation. Trump and RFK Jr. vowed to ‘Make America Healthy Again,’ but they have put American communities in harm’s way.”
It costs taxpayers a whopping half a million dollars to contain ten cases of measles, and public health agencies are being stretched thin to mitigate the growing number of outbreaks.
REMINDER: While working with his anti-vaccine group in Pennsylvania, RFK Jr. spread anti-vaccine misinformation, minimizing the seriousness of the disease and claiming that the cure for measles is chicken soup and Vitamin A.
