ATLANTA, Ga. – The spreading incidence of measles reached North Dakota – the 11th state with an outbreak since 2011 after several measles-free decades due to vaccines. Minnesota has escaped the latest contagion so far. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has counted 935 cases this year, more than triple all of 2024. The current outbreak took root in an isolated religious community in Texas with a disdain for vaccines. The outbreak has become a lightning rod on President Trump’s oddball choice of quack-theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. to head the U.S. Health Department. Kennedy has wiped out major research, decimated public health programs, and encouraged unproven “cures” for ailments of many sorts, including measles.
