Free Republic

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Two people held at a large immigrant family detention center in Dilley, Texas, have tested positive for measles, officials said. The South Texas Family Residential Center, located about 70 miles south of San Antonio, houses roughly 1,100 adults and children. After the cases were confirmed Jan. 31, federal officials said they isolated anyone who may have been exposed and limited movement inside the building. “Medical staff is continuing to monitor the detainees’ conditions and will take appropriate and active steps to prevent further infection,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the U.S. Department...

Devotees of the health secretary’s Make America Healthy Again movement say they oppose the Louisiana senator’s reelection.Bill Cassidy seemed aware of the political peril when he decided, a year ago, to challenge Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s skeptical views about vaccines.“My phone blows up with people who really follow you and there are many who trust you more than they trust their own physician,” the Louisiana Republican told Kennedy during his confirmation hearing, before reluctantly voting to make him health secretary.Now, as Cassidy seeks a third term, Kennedy’s followers haven’t forgiven the senator for grilling Kennedy at that hearing or for...

The South Carolina measles outbreak is growing at an astounding speed. “Over the last seven to nine days, we’ve had upwards of over 200 new cases. That’s doubled just in the last week,” Dr. Johnathon Elkes, an emergency medicine physician at Prisma Health in Greenville, South Carolina, said during a media briefing Friday. “We feel like we’re really kind of staring over the edge, knowing that this is about to get a lot worse.”... The number of cases is expected to grow. The health department’s report only reflects the number of people whose illness has been confirmed as measles by...

The measles outbreak in South Carolina is “accelerating” with no end in sight following Thanksgiving and other large gatherings, state health officials said Wednesday. As of Wednesday, 111 measles cases had been reported in what’s known as upstate South Carolina — an area in the northwest of the state that includes Greenville and Spartanburg. “We are faced with ongoing transmission that we anticipate will go on for many more weeks,” Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist for the South Carolina Department of Public Health, said during a news briefing Wednesday. Twenty-seven of those cases have been reported since Friday. “That is...

The measles outbreak in South Carolina is “accelerating” with no end in sight following Thanksgiving and other large gatherings, state health officials said Wednesday. As of Wednesday, 111 measles cases had been reported in what’s known as upstate South Carolina — an area in the northwest of the state that includes Greenville and Spartanburg. “We are faced with ongoing transmission that we anticipate will go on for many more weeks,” Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist for the South Carolina Department of Public Health, said during a news briefing Wednesday.

In the wake of a measles outbreak in Canada that has infected thousands of people over the past year, an international health agency revoked the country’s measles-free status on Nov. 10, 2025.The Pan American Health Organization, which serves as the World Health Organization’s regional office for the Americas, made this announcement after the agency’s measles elimination commission met in Mexico City to review the latest public health data.As a global health epidemiologist who studies the spread of infectious diseases, this change in status does not surprise me. Measles is highly contagious, and a drop in childhood vaccination rates in Canada...

As the measles outbreak in the Upstate has grown to 30 people, including eight new cases this week, South Carolina public health officials addressed disinformation and myths contributing to lower vaccination rates, including that it is better to be infected and get immunity that way than get the shot. And as the measles outbreak in the Palmetto State continues to grow and one in Utah and Arizona takes off, the U.S. is closer to losing its status since 2000 of having eliminated measles from circulating in the country. Even before the first cases were confirmed in South Carolina in July,...

Why is measles dangerous? The recent measles outbreak underscores the need for every child to be vaccinated. Jesse Couk, M.D., a Piedmont infectious disease specialist, explains why measles is dangerous and how it can be prevented.

Texas health officials on Monday declared the measles outbreak that began in West Texas earlier this year is now over after more than 700 cases were confirmed. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said that as of Aug. 18, 762 measles cases were confirmed since January, with the majority of infections occurring in children and most cases involving people who were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination statuses. Two deaths occurred in unvaccinated school-age children who lived in the outbreak area, marking the first U.S. measles death in more than a decade. “The Texas Department of State Health Services...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 1,309 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S. as of July 15 — the highest number of cases in three decades. The fearmongering corporate media have rushed to blame decreasing vaccine rates and “unvaccinated” populations. But largely missing from or downplayed in these outlets’ coverage are important data points and questions about what may be exacerbating the outbreaks. Image CreditScreenshot / CDCThe Associated Press reported concerns that the outbreak has been worsened by post-Covid “vaccine hesitancy” and lackluster funding for vaccination programs. CBS acted shocked that HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr....

30 new cases reported in Alberta over the weekendAlberta has now confirmed more measles cases than the entire United States has reported this year. The province has been battling outbreaks since March and as of noon Monday, total case counts in the province had ballooned to 1,314. The latest update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that country has amassed 1,288 cases this year. "Looking at the numbers it saddens me," said Dr. Sam Wong, the president of the section of pediatrics with the Alberta Medical Association. "I think if we had gotten to it sooner...

Measles cases continue to accumulate in the United States in what is already the second-worst year since the disease was declared eliminated a quarter-century ago. Now, a recent outbreak in one North Dakota county has led local health officials to quarantine nearly 200 unvaccinated students. North Dakota has reported nine measles cases this year, and a recent outbreak among schoolchildren in Williams County in the northwest part of the state has led local health officials to enforce a law that requires unvaccinated students to quarantine for 21 days after exposure to someone who has the virus. The move was taken...

[MULTIPLE VIDEO EXCERPTS AT LINK] This story originally appeared on vigilantfox.com and was republished with permission. RFK Jr. is perhaps the most impactful HHS Secretary we’ve ever seen—but if you read the mainstream news, you’d think his first 100 days were a disaster. While chronic disease drains trillions from Americans every year, the press can’t stop obsessing over measles. Just look at these headlines: “As measles cases rise, some parents become vaccine enthusiasts.” “US measles cases near 900, outbreaks reported in 10 states.” “Measles may be making a comeback in the U.S., Stanford Medicine experts warn.” It makes you think...

A Licensed Texas Physician with significant experience successfully treating measles during the current outbreak is reporting a second tragic death of a chronically ill child who had been previously infected with measles in a Texas hospital. Similar to the recent unfortunate death widely but incorrectly reported as primarily caused by measles rather than complicated by measles, this is again a case of a child suffering from pre-existing conditions who was misdiagnosed, and it appears that she may have been improperly medically managed. In this second case, a young girl who had previously been infected but recovered from a measles infection...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun redeploying staff to respond to the deadly outbreak of measles in Texas, a spokesperson said Monday, a week after steep layoffs at the agency impacted its response to the spread of the virus. "A team of three deployed yesterday to meet with county and state officials to assess the immediate needs to respond to this outbreak. The team is meeting with officials again today," CDC spokesperson Jason McDonald said in an email. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. first said Sunday that the CDC would be redeploying to...

The U.S. is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic with more and more long COVID cases emerging. Bird flu is a growing threat. Measles outbreaks have been occurring. Antibiotic-resistant organisms continue to spread in healthcare settings. So what do you do next if you are in charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is supposed to protect the health of humans in the U.S.? How about lay off the entire staff of the U.S. government’s Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy?

More measles cases have been reported in Ontario over the last week than the total number of cases recorded in the decade between 2013 and 2023A mother of an infant, a principal of a religious school, and a public health physician — they all share the desire to get kids vaccinated against measles as Ontario recorded another 102 cases over the past week. Public Health Ontario said Thursday there have been 572 cases since the outbreak began in October, 453 of them confirmed and 119 probable. Of the 42 people requiring hospitalization, two have required intensive care, and 36 have...

Texas administered 15,000 more measles vaccinations this year compared to 2024—and now there’s a growing measles outbreak that has surpassed the total number of cases reported across the entire United States last year.The news follows this website’s February report that measles cases in Gaines County, Texas, had jumped 242% following a health district campaign to hand out free measles vaccines.A measles outbreak after higher vaccination rates in Texas calls into question the shot’s claimed effectiveness and underlying design.Timeline & NumbersBetween January 1 and March 16 last year, 158,000 measles vaccines were administered in the state, according to CBS News.During the...

A child who died in a Texas hospital after developing pneumonia following a measles infection died as a result of “medical error” — including failure to administer the correct antibiotic in time, according to a medical expert who reviewed the child’s medical records. Children’s Health Defense (CHD) obtained the medical records from the family of the 6-year-old girl. The parents said they wanted people to know what happened to their daughter so it wouldn’t happen to other children. Dr. Pierre Kory, who has extensive experience in pulmonary and critical care medicine, analyzed the records and said ... "this case was...

The parents of a young girl who died after contracting measles last month in West Texas are speaking out about their position on the MMR vaccine. The child, age 6, died on Feb. 26 after being hospitalized in Lubbock, as reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The agency stated it was "the first death from measles in the ongoing outbreak in the South Plains and Panhandle regions" — adding that the child was not vaccinated. The family lives in Seminole, Texas, in Gaines County, which is where the vast majority of measles cases have occurred in the...