During a Cabinet meeting last week, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downplayed what is now the second-worst measles outbreak in the US since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.
Kennedy has claimed repeatedly that measles cases have “plateaued,” despite contradictory data from his own agencies.
On Tuesday, the health department in Texas – the center of the outbreak that now spans multiple states – reported 234 new cases over the past three weeks, 39% more than in the three weeks before that. New outbreaks have also been reported in Indiana and Ohio.