The anti-vaxxer-in-chief is having second thoughts:
Kennedy Jr backtracks and says US measles outbreak is now a ‘top priority’ for health department
Two days after initially downplaying the outbreak as “not unusual,” the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, on Friday said he recognizes the serious impact of the ongoing measles epidemic in Texas – in which a child died recently – and said the government is providing resources, including protective vaccines.
“Ending the measles outbreak is a top priority for me and my extraordinary team,” Kennedy – an avowed anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who for years has sown doubts about the safety and efficacy of vaccines – said in a post on X.
Kennedy said his federal Department of Health and Human Services would send Texas 2,000 doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine – typically meant to be given to children in a series of two shots at 12 to 15 months old as well as between the ages of four and six years old – through its immunization program.
Earlier, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) upheld the role of vaccines in offering protection against measles after an unvaccinated child died from an infection this week. The death, reported on Wednesday, was the first US fatality from the highly contagious disease in a decade. Government data shows a growing outbreak with more than 140 cases reported in Texas since late January.
The child’s death and the hospitalization of nearly 20 other patients in Texas have put Kennedy’s vaccine views to the test.
Click on the link for the full article
Anti-Vaxxer Thread
Meanwhile in Texas...
Texas leaders quiet amid the biggest measles outbreak in decades
Texas is facing its worst measles outbreak in decades, as cases have jumped from two to 146 in just one month. A child is dead, 20 more are hospitalized and the worst is likely still ahead, public health experts say, as Texas’ decreasing vaccination rates leave swaths of the state exposed to the most contagious virus humans currently face.
State and local health officials are setting up vaccine clinics and encouraging people to get the shot, which is more than 97% effective at warding off measles.
But neither Gov. Greg Abbott nor lawmakers from the hardest hit areas have addressed the outbreak publicly in press conferences, social media posts or public calls for people to consider getting vaccinated. State and local authorities in West Texas have not yet enacted more significant measures that other places have adopted during outbreaks, like excluding unvaccinated students from school before they are exposed, or enforcing quarantine after exposure.
The response to Texas’ first major public health crisis since COVID is being shaped by the long-term consequences of the pandemic, experts say — stronger vaccine hesitancy, decreased trust in science and authorities, and an unwillingness from politicians to aggressively push public health measures like vaccination and quarantine.
Click on the link for the full article
Texas leaders quiet amid the biggest measles outbreak in decades
Texas is facing its worst measles outbreak in decades, as cases have jumped from two to 146 in just one month. A child is dead, 20 more are hospitalized and the worst is likely still ahead, public health experts say, as Texas’ decreasing vaccination rates leave swaths of the state exposed to the most contagious virus humans currently face.
State and local health officials are setting up vaccine clinics and encouraging people to get the shot, which is more than 97% effective at warding off measles.
But neither Gov. Greg Abbott nor lawmakers from the hardest hit areas have addressed the outbreak publicly in press conferences, social media posts or public calls for people to consider getting vaccinated. State and local authorities in West Texas have not yet enacted more significant measures that other places have adopted during outbreaks, like excluding unvaccinated students from school before they are exposed, or enforcing quarantine after exposure.
The response to Texas’ first major public health crisis since COVID is being shaped by the long-term consequences of the pandemic, experts say — stronger vaccine hesitancy, decreased trust in science and authorities, and an unwillingness from politicians to aggressively push public health measures like vaccination and quarantine.
Click on the link for the full article
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Emir of Schmoe
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The Bird Flu Could Be Way Worse Than We Know, According to Experts
The virus is moving through cows, infecting humans, and proving harder to contain than expected.
On February 19, Tulane University reported that a new variant of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, also known as bird flu, was found in cows and a dairy worker. But that's not the only bad news. Scientists have also detected bird flu in three veterinarians working with cattle, which may signal a change in the way the virus is spreading.
According to the university, three veterinarians working with cattle have tested positive for bird flu without presenting any symptoms. In a separate statement, the American Veterinary Medical Association said a study found that "Among 150 practitioners tested, three had evidence of recent infection with H5N1, including two who hadn’t been exposed to animals confirmed or suspected to have H5N1 infections." One of those infected vets didn't even practice in a state with a confirmed H5N1 case.
Sarah Michaels, an infectious disease expert at Tulane University’s Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, says this study and others could indicate that the virus is far more widespread than we thought.
Is It Safe to Eat Eggs During a Bird Flu Outbreak? Here’s What to Know
“It will be difficult to contain,” Michaels said. “Recent screenings and the national milk testing program have shown that bird flu has spilled over from wild birds to cattle more than once. And this report of infections in three veterinarians highlights the importance of rapidly identifying infected dairy cattle, continued testing of bulk milk, and monitoring human infections among those at increased risk.”
As for the new strain, it's known as the D1.1 variant, which Tulane explained had only been previously found in wild birds and some domestic poultry. However, now, it's not only been found in cattle but also in a Nevada dairy worker, marking the third known human case involving the variant. This follows two other high-profile cases with D1.1, including the death of a Louisiana farmer who contracted it from his backyard flock and a teenager in Canada who was hospitalized but later recovered. And now that that are two types of the virus out there, experts say it will be hard to both track and contain the spread.
“It’s endemic in cows now. There is no way this is going to get contained,” Seema Lakdawala, an influenza virologist and co-director of the Center for Transmission of Airborne Pathogens at Emory School of Medicine, shared with The Guardian.
Adding fuel to the fire is the absolutely rampant spread of the flu in humans this winter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that there have been "at least 33 million illnesses, 430,000 hospitalizations, and 19,000 deaths from flu so far this season," marking one of the worst flu seasons in over a decade.
https://www.foodandwine.com/avian-influ ... s-11686288
The virus is moving through cows, infecting humans, and proving harder to contain than expected.
On February 19, Tulane University reported that a new variant of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, also known as bird flu, was found in cows and a dairy worker. But that's not the only bad news. Scientists have also detected bird flu in three veterinarians working with cattle, which may signal a change in the way the virus is spreading.
According to the university, three veterinarians working with cattle have tested positive for bird flu without presenting any symptoms. In a separate statement, the American Veterinary Medical Association said a study found that "Among 150 practitioners tested, three had evidence of recent infection with H5N1, including two who hadn’t been exposed to animals confirmed or suspected to have H5N1 infections." One of those infected vets didn't even practice in a state with a confirmed H5N1 case.
Sarah Michaels, an infectious disease expert at Tulane University’s Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, says this study and others could indicate that the virus is far more widespread than we thought.
Is It Safe to Eat Eggs During a Bird Flu Outbreak? Here’s What to Know
“It will be difficult to contain,” Michaels said. “Recent screenings and the national milk testing program have shown that bird flu has spilled over from wild birds to cattle more than once. And this report of infections in three veterinarians highlights the importance of rapidly identifying infected dairy cattle, continued testing of bulk milk, and monitoring human infections among those at increased risk.”
As for the new strain, it's known as the D1.1 variant, which Tulane explained had only been previously found in wild birds and some domestic poultry. However, now, it's not only been found in cattle but also in a Nevada dairy worker, marking the third known human case involving the variant. This follows two other high-profile cases with D1.1, including the death of a Louisiana farmer who contracted it from his backyard flock and a teenager in Canada who was hospitalized but later recovered. And now that that are two types of the virus out there, experts say it will be hard to both track and contain the spread.
“It’s endemic in cows now. There is no way this is going to get contained,” Seema Lakdawala, an influenza virologist and co-director of the Center for Transmission of Airborne Pathogens at Emory School of Medicine, shared with The Guardian.
Adding fuel to the fire is the absolutely rampant spread of the flu in humans this winter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that there have been "at least 33 million illnesses, 430,000 hospitalizations, and 19,000 deaths from flu so far this season," marking one of the worst flu seasons in over a decade.
https://www.foodandwine.com/avian-influ ... s-11686288
Iowa Bill IA SF360
Bill Summary
This bill relates to the administration of gene-based vaccines. The bill provides that a person shall not provide or administer a gene-based vaccine to another person in this state. A person who violates the bill is guilty of a simple misdemeanor and is subject to a fine of $500 per incident. The bill directs the appropriate licensing board within the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing to review the license of a person licensed under Code chapter 147 (health-related professions) who violates the bill. The bill defines gene-based vaccine as a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid technology, modified messenger ribonucleic acid technology, self-amplifying messenger ribonucleic acid technology, or deoxyribonucleic acid technology.
Click on the link for the full text
So some politician doesn't understand molecular biology and therefore wants to risk the lives of his constituents in the event of another pandemic. Brilliant!
Bill Summary
This bill relates to the administration of gene-based vaccines. The bill provides that a person shall not provide or administer a gene-based vaccine to another person in this state. A person who violates the bill is guilty of a simple misdemeanor and is subject to a fine of $500 per incident. The bill directs the appropriate licensing board within the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing to review the license of a person licensed under Code chapter 147 (health-related professions) who violates the bill. The bill defines gene-based vaccine as a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid technology, modified messenger ribonucleic acid technology, self-amplifying messenger ribonucleic acid technology, or deoxyribonucleic acid technology.
Click on the link for the full text
So some politician doesn't understand molecular biology and therefore wants to risk the lives of his constituents in the event of another pandemic. Brilliant!
Amid West Texas measles outbreak, vaccine resistance hardens
When the local hospital warned of a brewing measles outbreak, Kaleigh Brantner urged fellow residents of this rural West Texas community to beware of vaccinating their children.
Two weeks later, her unvaccinated 7-year-old son came home from school with a fever. The telltale rash across his body followed. But his mild symptoms and swift recovery only hardened Brantner’s anti-vaccination convictions, even after an unvaccinated child died of measles at a hospital 80 miles away.
“We’re not going to harm our children or [risk] the potential to harm our children,” she said, “so that we can save yours.”
Texas’s worst measles eruption in three decades has surged to 146 known cases, with the true toll likely much higher, exposing how under-vaccinated communities are unnecessarily vulnerable to one of the world’s most contagious diseases, experts say. The first known victim was 6 and otherwise healthy, according to two individuals with knowledge of the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that haven’t been publicly released.
The life-threatening outbreak in West Texas starkly illustrates the stakes of slipping immunization rates and the ascension of vaccine skeptics, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to the highest levels of the public health establishment.
And it has revealed how fear and the scientifically false claims of the anti-vaccine movement have seeped into communities such as Gaines County, the epicenter of the outbreak, hardening attitudes about vaccines, pro and con, in the face of a dangerous, preventable disease.
Click on the link for the full article
When the local hospital warned of a brewing measles outbreak, Kaleigh Brantner urged fellow residents of this rural West Texas community to beware of vaccinating their children.
Two weeks later, her unvaccinated 7-year-old son came home from school with a fever. The telltale rash across his body followed. But his mild symptoms and swift recovery only hardened Brantner’s anti-vaccination convictions, even after an unvaccinated child died of measles at a hospital 80 miles away.
“We’re not going to harm our children or [risk] the potential to harm our children,” she said, “so that we can save yours.”
Texas’s worst measles eruption in three decades has surged to 146 known cases, with the true toll likely much higher, exposing how under-vaccinated communities are unnecessarily vulnerable to one of the world’s most contagious diseases, experts say. The first known victim was 6 and otherwise healthy, according to two individuals with knowledge of the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that haven’t been publicly released.
The life-threatening outbreak in West Texas starkly illustrates the stakes of slipping immunization rates and the ascension of vaccine skeptics, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to the highest levels of the public health establishment.
And it has revealed how fear and the scientifically false claims of the anti-vaccine movement have seeped into communities such as Gaines County, the epicenter of the outbreak, hardening attitudes about vaccines, pro and con, in the face of a dangerous, preventable disease.
Click on the link for the full article
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The Evil Genius
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CobraCommander
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Sort of. He also added that you should ask your doctor if they thinks it’s safe to get your kid vaccinated, which most doctors will.ixcuincle wrote: Mon Mar 03, 2025 11:37 ameven rfk jr who was staunchly anti vax wants people to get vaccinated against this measles shit
good
But you can’t fix the crazy people who don’t care about the safety of the immune compromised Americans.
To hell with them.
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CobraCommander
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RFK JR:
However, he said, "The decision to vaccinate is a personal one," and he urged all parents to "consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine."
https://apple.news/AOEbKzL5CTj-ikufgldomBw
However, he said, "The decision to vaccinate is a personal one," and he urged all parents to "consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine."
https://apple.news/AOEbKzL5CTj-ikufgldomBw
Unvaccinated New Mexico Resident Dies of Suspected Measles
An unvaccinated person who died in New Mexico has tested positive for measles, state health officials said on Thursday, possibly the second such fatality in a growing outbreak that began in West Texas.
The officials have not yet confirmed that measles was the cause of death, and said the person did not seek medical treatment before dying.
The announcement came a little over a week after a child died of measles in Gaines County, Texas, the first such death in the United States in 10 years.
Ten cases of measles, six adults and four children, have been reported in Lea County, N.M., which borders Gaines County, the epicenter of the West Texas outbreak.
This outbreak has been a trial by fire of the new secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic. His equivocal response has drawn harsh criticism from scientists, who say he has offered muted support for vaccination and has emphasized untested treatments for measles like cod liver oil.
Instead of broadly lauding the safety and efficacy of vaccines, as past H.H.S. secretaries did, Mr. Kennedy has said that vaccines help protect against measles but that the decision to vaccinate “is a personal one.”
Click on the link for the full article
An unvaccinated person who died in New Mexico has tested positive for measles, state health officials said on Thursday, possibly the second such fatality in a growing outbreak that began in West Texas.
The officials have not yet confirmed that measles was the cause of death, and said the person did not seek medical treatment before dying.
The announcement came a little over a week after a child died of measles in Gaines County, Texas, the first such death in the United States in 10 years.
Ten cases of measles, six adults and four children, have been reported in Lea County, N.M., which borders Gaines County, the epicenter of the West Texas outbreak.
This outbreak has been a trial by fire of the new secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic. His equivocal response has drawn harsh criticism from scientists, who say he has offered muted support for vaccination and has emphasized untested treatments for measles like cod liver oil.
Instead of broadly lauding the safety and efficacy of vaccines, as past H.H.S. secretaries did, Mr. Kennedy has said that vaccines help protect against measles but that the decision to vaccinate “is a personal one.”
Click on the link for the full article