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As of last week, The United States has reported more than 1300 confirmed cases of Measles this year, making it the biggest outbreak of the deadly disease in 33 years, officials reported. In 2025, 38 states and the District of Columbia have reported measles cases so far as the illness has claimed the lives of at least three people while 155 others were hospitalised. The outbreak comes as millions of people across the country are set to lose health-insurance coverage because of Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill, a newly proposed law by Donald Trump that is set to render millions of people across the country without health-insurance coverage.
Growing Conspiracy Theories Regarding Vaccination A Cause?
Johns Hopkins University released the report of measles cases this year released as the US records its largest outbreak of the vaccine-preventable and highly contagious disease. According to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) 92% of measles cases were in patients unvaccinated, or with unknown vaccine status. The state with the most cases is Texas, with over 700, according to the CDC; other states with dozens of cases include Kansas and New Mexico. Health officials said, “the spread of measles outbreak is most common in neighbourhoods with lower vaccination rates, like some Texas Mennonite communities that reject modern medicine.
This outbreak comes as the anti-vaccine pushback has rapidly increased in the US, and in other countries.” Health Secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has recently been found spreading misinformation about childhood vaccinations, and minimising the outbreak. He went on to endorse the measles mumps rubella vaccine as the illness spread, writing in a post on X, it's "the most effective means of preventing the spread of measles". According to the CDC, measles cases in the US were very common in the late 80’s and early 90’s with nearly 28,000 cases recorded in 1990. However, the disease was believed to be eradicated across the country in recent years.
Also Read: Texas Confirms First Measles Case In Dallas Amid Ongoing Outbreak
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History Of Measles
Measles emerged as a global epidemic in the Renaissance period. It was studied in 1846 by Danish physician Peter Panum who was investigating an outbreak in the Faroe Islands. The belief about the nature of the disease was that it is viral, which was later confirmed in 1911, and the virus was actually isolated in 1954 by Thomas Peebles and John Enders. The current measles virus appears to have arisen from the rinderpest virus in 6th century BCE. According to the (CDC) measles is a perfectly adapted and strictly human virus without any animal reservoirs. A live attenuation was developed in 1958 by the Enders group. The vaccine acquired a license in the United States in 1963 and to this day is used on a mass scale by WHO around the world. The vaccine is extremely effective and well-tolerated, has reduced the total number of measles cases and thus saved millions of lives. As a continued public health problem, measles causes over 100,000 deaths worldwide annually.
Symptoms
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- High fever
- Cough
- Runny nose
- Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
- Rash, consisting of flat red spots and small raised bumps,
- Koplik spots may appear inside the mouth
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Conclusion
The abrupt spike of a vaccine-preventable disease like measles in a country with one of the most comprehensive heath care systems is a testament to the dangers of misinformation especially when peddled by influential people like celebrities and politicians. The United States is not alien to conspiracy theories, however, the rising sentiments of ‘anti-vaccination’ in the country, especially in states like Texas poses a huge threat to the country’s health and future.