JONATHAN M. METSCH, Dr.P.H. – Tracking Emerging Public Health Challenges –June 6, 2026 – Measles
“Nearly 180 detainees are under quarantine for possible measles exposure at Camp East Montana, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Fort Bliss, city health officials told El Paso Matters on Wednesday.
The facility initiated quarantine after 16 detainees were identified as contacts of two confirmed measles cases at a detention facility in Arizona, city officials said. The detainees arrived at Camp East Montana before the Arizona measles cases were confirmed, Dr. Hector Ocaranza, city and county health authority, said in an email statement to El Paso Matters.
City, state and federal officials didn’t say when the quarantine began.” (1)
“Another federal inmate held in the Luna County jail has tested positive for measles, bringing the state’s total case count to 16, the New Mexico Department of Health announced Monday.”
“This case is the latest in a spate of outbreaks in Southern New Mexico jails, with the state Health Department previously reporting two cases in the Hidalgo County jail, three in the Doña Ana County jail, and now 11 in the Luna County jail. Jail and federal officials have provided few answers on the source of the infections.” (2)
As the World Cup draws millions to 11 U.S. cities, measles—not Ebola—may be the biggest concern, By Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, https://fortune.com/2026/06/05/measles-not-ebola-biggest-health-risk-world-cup-2026/
“During the first five months in the Americas, 21,431 confirmed measles cases have been reported from 17 countries, a 234 percent increase compared to the same period in 2025.
The bulk of the cases (97%) have been reported from four countries: Mexico, Guatemala, the United States and Canada.
31 deaths have been reported during this time- Mexico (14) and Guatemala (17).” (3)
Japan measles cases top 500, nearing 2019 level, https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/77167
Bangladesh Measles Surge Kills 500+ Children; Vaccine Delays Blamed, By HealthDay, https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2026-05-28/bangladesh-measles-surge-kills-500-children-vaccine-delays-blamed
“In defending his record on measles, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. twice said during a recent Senate hearing, “We promote” the measles vaccine. While it’s true that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend the shot, Kennedy has rarely made an unequivocal endorsement of it, even as the nation has seen an alarming rise in measles cases.”
“Kennedy had often noted the MMR vaccine’s effectiveness. But prior to last month, we could not find a single instance in which Kennedy offered vigorous, unqualified support for the vaccine, without including or later adding inaccurate or misleading information that might cause someone to rethink vaccination.
We reviewed his statements, focusing on the last year and a half, to put his claim in context. In the interactive timeline below, we identify Kennedy’s most significant remarks with respect to measles or the MMR vaccine.
For example, in an April 2025 X post that was widely covered by the press and angered some of his anti-vaccine supporters, Kennedy accurately stated that the MMR vaccine is the “most effective way to prevent the spread of measles.”
Later the same day, however, Kennedy posted again, writing that two local doctors “have treated and healed some 300 measles-stricken Mennonite children.” He cited two drugs that don’t have evidence to support them as a treatment for the disease.
Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that has no cure or specific therapies. While vaccination or immunoglobulin shortly after exposure can be effective, once someone is sick, physicians can only treat symptoms.
In much of his messaging, Kennedy was willing to say the vaccine works. But he also emphasized parental choice and spoke of vaccine safety concerns.
“We should have informed choice, and — but if people don’t want it, they shouldn’t be — the government shouldn’t force them to do it,” Kennedy said of vaccination in a March 11, 2025, interview…”.. “There are adverse events from the vaccine. It does cause deaths every year. It causes — it causes all the illnesses that measles itself causes, encephalitis and blindness, etc. And so, people ought to be able to make that choice for themselves. And — and what we need to do is give them the best information, encourage them to vaccinate. The vaccine does stop the spread of the disease.”” (5)
“Measles is sticking around. So where are the measles treatments?
There are no specific treatments to help someone who is infected with measles virus, and that’s pretty surprising. After all, measles is a very old disease.
We know that measles swept through Persia in the twelfth century. Elizabethan England was gripped by the disease. Like today, infections back then were most dangerous for infants, children, and those who were pregnant.
In the twentieth century, the United States saw more 500,000 measles cases each year. That was until 1963, when the Edmonston B measles vaccine was introduced. With that life-saving vaccine in hand, the United States was on its way to eliminating measles.
Inventing a measles treatment didn’t seem necessary.
By the year 2000, a large percentage of the U.S. population was vaccinated against measles. High vaccination rates provided “herd immunity,” a sort of wall of protection, so the unvaccinated weren’t at risk of catching the disease.
We know now that “herd immunity” can fail. We also know how easily an outbreak can turn into a pandemic.
Measles has an even worse cousin
Measles is a virus with pandemic potential. Measles virus spreads via respiratory droplets (from sneezing or coughing). The virus is also the most contagious human virus we know of.
There’s another reason to pursue measles treatments. Measles virus is closely related to the extremely deadly Nipah virus. Both viruses are members of the Paramyxoviridae family. Nipah virus is usually transmitted from animals to humans, but it can spread from person to person via contaminated food or contact between people.
Nipah virus has a fatality rate of between 40 percent and 75 percent, which is much higher than measles. But the two viruses still have a lot in common. They use the same molecular tools to break into human cells and establish infections.
We’d all be in trouble if measles mutated to be more deadly like Nipah, or if Nipah mutated to be more contagious like measles.” (6)
“After the virus emerged there in late April, Virginia’s Piedmont Health District partnered with Lynchburg-based Centra Health to offer a dispatch number to call paramedics for home visits.
With this, instead of showing up at doctors’ offices or the emergency department with a potential measles case, the healthcare workers can test an entire family at once, if needed, and treat symptoms like high fevers and dehydration.
It’s possible that early interventions can help keep patients out of the hospital, said Dr. Chris Thomson, executive vice president for Centra Health.
“By being able to get to someone who calls at an early stage of their illness, and perhaps being able to go to a home and provide IV fluids to someone who’s dehydrated keeps them from becoming ill enough” to warrant a hospitalization, Thomson said. “Also by being in the home, we’re able to identify whether or not there are others who are ill, providing more surveillance than we would if we did not have this service.”
While vaccines are offered, they’re not a focus of the initiative, said Piedmont Health District Director Dr. Maria Almond. The largely unvaccinated community has been much more receptive to advice on isolation and quarantine.
“There’s a strong desire in public health to run right towards an outbreak shouting, ‘We have the answer! Get vaccinated!’” Almond said. “But when we start with what we believe is the answer for them, that door is just going to shut.”” (4)
Wastewater Surveillance’s Role in Identifying Measles Outbreaks, https://www.contagionlive.com/view/wastewater-surveillance-s-role-in-identifying-measles-outbreaks
1.Nearly 180 ICE detainees quarantined at Camp East Montana for possible measles exposure, by Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, https://elpasomatters.org/2026/06/03/measles-quarantine-ice-detention-camp-east-montana-el-paso-texas-fort-bliss/
2.Measles cases rise to 16 in Southern New Mexico jails, By Margaret O’Hara , https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/measles-cases-rise-to-16-in-southern-new-mexico-jails/article_f985e12f-360d-4a01-a2f4-f8106b0f829e.html
3.Measles cases up 234% this year in the Western hemisphere, by Robert Herriman, https://outbreaknewstoday.substack.com/p/measles-cases-up-234-this-year-in
4.Measles cases on the rise since the start of the year, By Erika Edwards, https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/measles-outbreaks-us-cases-2026-virginia-florida-pennsylvania-rcna348630
5.Timeline of RFK Jr.’s Mixed Messaging on the Measles Vaccine, By Jessica McDonald, https://www.factcheck.org/2026/05/a-timeline-of-rfk-jr-s-mixed-messaging-on-the-measles-vaccine/
6.Where are the measles treatments?, by Madeline McCurry-Schmidt, https://www.lji.org/news-events/news/post/where-are-the-measles-treatments/
curated by Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai