TRACKING EMERGING VIRUSES – May 4, 2025 – MEASLES
“NC hospitals in state of standby, preparing as measles threat grows”
By Grace Hayba
“The Triangle’s three major hospital systems all say they’ve taken steps to prepare staff for a potential increase in measles cases.
UNC Health, Duke Health and WakeMed say they’ve reviewed isolation protocols with staff on the frontlines in the health systems.
Dr. Anne Nolan, director of Infection Prevention at WakeMed, shared the first step is isolation.
“If a patient arrives with measles-like symptoms, we would ask them to wear a mask and place the patient on airborne isolation precautions as recommended by the CDC,” said Nolan.
Duke Health Pediatric Disease Specialist Dr. Tony Moody added patients would be taken to rooms where ventilation pulls air into a room, rather than out. He shared the ultimate goal is to keep patients out of high-congestion areas, such as emergency rooms, altogether.
“First and foremost, we want to keep them out of the ER if we can,” said Moody. “We even have suggestions for how doctors’ offices should handle this to try and reduce the risk in their own population.”
Urgent isolation with highly contagious viruses with measles is essential to reduce spread.
“I can’t really think of another virus more contagious than measles,” warned Moody. “If you have a room of 30 kids and there are five of them that are susceptible, if a case comes in and they’re in there for any substantial length of time, those kids are going to get it. It’s not 100%, but it’s really high.””
to read the full article go to
https://www.wral.com/lifestyle/health/nc-hospitals-standby-measles-threat-may-2025/
“World may be ‘post-herd immunity’ to measles, top US scientist says”
By Jessica Glenza
“A leading immunologist warned of a “post-herd-immunity world”, as measles outbreaks affect communities with low vaccination rates in the American south-west, Mexico and Canada.
The US is enduring the largest measles outbreak in a quarter-century. Centered in west Texas, the measles outbreak has killed two unvaccinated children and one adult and spread to neighboring states including New Mexico and Oklahoma.
“We’re living in a post-herd-immunity world. I think the measles outbreak proves that,” said Dr Paul Offit, an expert on infectious disease and immunology and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“Measles – because it is the most contagious of the vaccine-preventable diseases, the most contagious human disease really – it is the first to come back.”
to read the full article go to
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/03/measles-post-herd-immunity
“Weekly measles cases hit new record amid worst outbreak since 1990s”
By Alexander Tin
“Weekly measles cases have set a new record, according to figures published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, topping the peak of an outbreak in 2019 that ranked as the worst since the 1990s.
The number of cases that had their symptoms start during the week of March 30 has grown to 111, according to the agency’s latest update. Authorities backdate newly reported measles cases based on when their rash began, to account for delays in reporting and diagnosis.
That tops the 102 cases reported for the week of March 23, 2019, at the height of that year’s wave. By the end of 2019, measles cases that year added up to the largest annual tally since endemic spread of the virus was declared eliminated in 2000.
This year, the majority of cases are from an ongoing outbreak in Texas and neighboring states, which is now larger than any other single outbreak since the virus was eliminated. Between Texas and New Mexico, at least 750 of the measles cases reported this year have been linked to that outbreak. Cases in Oklahoma and other states have also been linked to the outbreak.
There have been 11 other local outbreaks of measles within the U.S. this year, up from 10 last week.”
to read the full article go to
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/weekly-measles-cases-hit-new-record-amid-worst-outbreak-since-1990s/
“Measles jumps borders in North America with outbreaks in Canada, Mexico and US”
By DEVI SHASTRI and MEGAN JANETSKY
“North and South American countries have struggled to maintain the 95% measles vaccination rate needed to prevent outbreaks, said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization. And a recent World Health Organization report said measles activity in the Americas region is up elevenfold from the same time last year and that the risk level is “high” compared to the rest of the world’s “moderate” level.
Measles cases have been confirmed in six of the region’s countries — Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Mexico — and investigating the disease’s spread is labor-intensive and pricey. The response to each measles case in the U.S. costs an estimated $30,000 to $50,000, according to Dr. David Sugerman, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist.””
to read the full article go to
https://apnews.com/article/measles-texas-mexico-canada-ontario-0956a30c043b030ae79bc9f67c6ce89c
“Major US airport (Chicago) on red alert as passenger is diagnosed with world’s most infectious disease”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14668283/major-usa-airport-red-alert-passenger-virus-chicago.html
“Michigan’s top doc: Why some measles cases aren’t publicly announced”
By Kristen Jordan Shamus
“In just three of Michigan’s nine confirmed measles cases in 2025 — identified April 2 in Kent County, March 14 in Oakland County and April 14 in Ingham County — public announcements were made within six days, in time for immunoglobulin to be an option for at least some of the people who were exposed, according to a Detroit Free Press review of state and local health department data.”
“Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said several factors can delay the identification of measles infections and public notification of exposure sites.
“Measles cases are often unique and circumstances under which we get reporting varies for each case,” she said. “It’s often difficult to get people within an appropriate PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) window, particularly within 72 hours of symptom onset.”
Since measles symptoms typically present first with runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and fever, people can spread the virus before they know they have it and can confuse measles with a respiratory infection. A person with measles is contagious for up to four days before the telltale rash begins, according to the CDC.
“There might not be suspicion of measles until the rash develops,” Sutfin said. “This means that public communications indicating a small window for (post-exposure prophylaxis) do not necessarily imply delays in testing or diagnosis. Instead, they may reflect that the individual’s exposure occurred earlier in the infectious period, which is common given the subtlety of early measles symptoms.”
to read the full article go to
https://www.freep.com/staff/2647166001/kristen-jordan-shamus/
“Kennedy Orders Search for New Measles Treatments Instead of Urging Vaccination”
By Teddy Rosenbluth
“With the United States facing its largest single measles outbreak in 25 years, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will direct federal health agencies to explore potential new treatments for the disease, including vitamins, according to an H.H.S. spokesman. The decision is the latest in a series of actions by the nation’s top health official that experts fear will undermine public confidence in vaccines as an essential public health tool.
The announcement comes as Mr. Kennedy faces intense backlash for his handling of the outbreak. It has swept through large areas of the Southwest where vaccination rates are low, infecting hundreds and killing two young girls. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 930 cases nationwide, most of which are associated with the Southwest outbreak.
Critics have said Mr. Kennedy has focused too much on untested treatments — such as cod liver oil supplements — and offered only muted support for the measles vaccine, which studies show is 97 percent effective in preventing infection.
The decision to put more resources into potential treatments, rather than urging vaccination, could have grave consequences at the center of the outbreak.”
to read the full article go to
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/health/measles-treatments-vaccines-kennedy.html
“RFK Jr. changing new vaccine testing to include placebo”
by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
“Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Is changing the way vaccines are tested and will now require all new vaccines to undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials, meaning that some people will receive the vaccine while others get an inert substance like saline to test the vaccine’s efficacy.
HHS called the change a “radical departure from past practices” that will increase transparency about medical products and vaccines.
HHS added in its release that none of the vaccines on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s childhood recommended schedule were tested against an inert placebo, but health experts say this is false.
An HHS spokesperson did not clarify how the policy will be implemented and said the department will “evaluate the data as companies submit their applications.” The spokesperson did define what the department considers to be a new vaccine.
to read the full article go to
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5277641-hhs-vaccine-testing-placebos/?ipid=promo-link-block2#:~:text=RFK%20Jr.%20changing,a%20new%20vaccine.
“In visit to Texas, RFK Jr. said autism, diabetes deserve more attention than measles”
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/29/texas-measles-robert-kennedy-autism/
“RFK Jr.: Chronic diseases need top billing, not infectious diseases like measles and COVID”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/29/chronic-diseases-infectious-diseases-rfk-jr/83341340007/
“US Health secretary Kennedy revives misleading claims of ‘fetal debris’ in measles shots”
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-health-secretary-kennedy-revives-misleading-claims-fetal-debris-measles-shots-2025-05-01/
“Trump’s Budget Cuts Funding for Chronic Disease Prevention”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/health/trump-budget-cdc-chronic-conditions.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
curated by
Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-metsch-526290199/
jonathanmetsch@gmail.com