Trump’s CDC sending disease detective to Pennsylvania for major measles outbreak

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.

The Trump administration is sending a disease detective to Pennsylvania after the state requested help in fighting its worst outbreak of measles in 35 years.

Pennsylvania formally requested assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC spokesman Gabriel Alvarado told The Independent.

“Secretary Kennedy and CDC Director Dr. Schwartz continue to recommend the MMR vaccine as the most effective way to prevent measles and protect against infection. CDC will continue working closely with Pennsylvania health officials to provide the expertise and support needed to respond to the outbreak and protect public health,” Alvarado said Wednesday.

The state’s health department did not immediately return a request for comment.

Nationwide, cases of measles are also at their highest levels in 35 years which public health officials told The Independent was down to vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.

The official CDC measles death count stands at two this year - four fewer than Pennsylvania’s official count. The CDC says the data will be updated based on new information and “relevant reviews.”

Measles infections can be prevented with the MMR vaccine, which target measles, mumps and rubella. Two shots offer lifelong protection against severe illness. Without the shots, measles can cause life-threatening brain swelling, high fever, pneumonia and death.

It has been decades since the last time measles ripped through the country in the same way and fewer people are getting vaccinated.

“I think that not only did we eliminate the disease, we eliminated the memory of the disease. I think people don’t remember measles,” Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, previously told The Independent.