The Trump administration appears to be planning to fight to keep its measles elimination status, even as it increasingly spreads misinformation and skepticism about life-saving vaccines.
To lose its elimination status, a country must have continuous transmission of measles for 12 straight months. Public health experts say the U.S. hit that grim milestone on Tuesday — ironically, exactly one year after Donald Trump, who has put anti-science and anti-vaccine figures in charge of public health, was inaugurated for his second term.
The Trump administration has claimed that it shouldn’t lose its status because there are multiple different measles outbreaks across the country, and that there isn’t enough proof the outbreaks are all connected.
“There is currently no epidemiological evidence linking the Texas, Arizona/Utah, or Spartanburg, [South Carolina,] outbreaks as one continuous chain of transmission,” Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill posted on X in December.
“Measles elimination status depends on evidence of continuous transmission for 12 months,” an HHS spokesperson told HuffPost in a statement. “Based on current data, the United States has not met that threshold.”
