Measles is making an unwelcome comeback in the United States, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to avoid any responsibility for it.

In a recent editorial for the Wall Street Journal, Ralph Abraham, the chief deputy director of the CDC, points to people who have criticized the government’s response to measles since last year. Abraham argued that the return of measles was not America’s fault because other countries had similar outbreaks recently. What Abraham does not say, of course, is that the public health of the country is now actively led by a man who is apparently CRUSADE against the measles vaccine and other shots for decades, namely Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“Framing measles as a failure of American policy is inaccurate and misleading,” Abraham wrote.

Running defense

Abraham is correct in noting that measles is not a uniquely American problem. There are many pockets of the world where the viral disease remains endemic. And countries like Canada, UK, etc. really experienced recent outbreak of measles. But these facts do not absolve the US of its own failure.

from January 2025measles spread far and wide. Last year alone saw more than 2,220 cases, the highest annual total in more than three decades. There have been cases in 45 states and other jurisdictions, mostly scattered across 49 different outbreaks. The largest outbreak last year occurred in early January in parts of Western Texas. However, it has now been superseded by the ongoing outbreak in South Carolina, which has 847 cases and counting. Three people in the US have died from measles since 2025, while hundreds have been hospitalized. And the US is now on the brink of losing official measles-free status.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on Earth but can be prevented with vaccines. And especially the slowness of vaccination rates that allowed measles to return to the US and elsewhere—not that the federal government under RFK Jr.

In his editorial, Abraham even tried to cast doubt on the efficacy of measles vaccination. As evidence, he cited a recent report from Colorado and CDC health officials in last year’s measles outbreak related to an airline passenger. Of the nine known cases linked to the original infected person, four were fully vaccinated, he said.

The measles vaccine is not subtle, so there are occasional cases of breakthrough (with a whole series, it has about 97% effectiveness). But even in this one selective outbreak, most cases were not vaccinated. And vaccination still helps those who are infected. Vaccinated cases reported fewer and milder symptoms, while three of the unvaccinated cases and one of the people whose vaccination status was unknown ended up in the hospital.

“This outbreak highlights the importance of staying up-to-date on recommended vaccinations, especially before traveling,” the report’s authors concluded.

The CDC’s own data also illustrates the value of vaccination. About 93% of all measles cases documented since last year occurred in people who were not vaccinated or with unknown vaccine status, while only 4% occurred in vaccinated individuals.

The RFK-shaped elephant in the room

Abraham claimed that under the leadership of RFK Jr., the US is now setting a global standard for public health. Somehow, that proclamation is not true given Kennedy’s track record thus far.

from last yearRFK Jr. and its allies prevent people from accessing certain vaccines. He also reduced the workforce at the CDC and other health agencies, as well as personally firing senior officials who refused to support his anti-vaccine policies. And during the measles outbreak in Texas, he recommended unsupported treatments such as cod liver oil that likely more at risk some children.

Last month, he succeeded dramatic shortening the childhood vaccination schedule. And he continues to install new ones ideological allies on high position who seek to undermine vaccines. Abraham himself, that is newly appointed in his position at the CDC late last year, there was a BACKGROUND for promoting vaccine skepticism during his previous reign as surgeon general of Louisiana.

desensitizing Vaccination rates for measles and other diseases certainly predate Kennedy’s rise to power, and this decline is not entirely to blame for anti-vaccine zealots (access to health care, especially in poor countries or rural parts of the US, is another factor). But there was nothing about the RFK Jr. era. public health that inspires confidence in the country’s ability or willingness to take measles seriously.