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.
The 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. — who, the outlet claimed, “has a history of making false and misleading claims about vaccines” — would recommend the measles vaccine. CNN likewise blamed “falling vaccination rates” and “increased travel.” An expert warned NPR that the U.S. may be close to losing its elimination status and blamed this on “vaccine hesitancy.”
The latest available CDC data shows a measles vaccine rate of about 92.7 percent for kindergartners in the 2023-2024 school year. This is down 2.5 percent from the 2019-2020 vaccination rate, a modest drop considering the fallout from the CDC pushing and the federal government seeking to mandate the experimental Covid vaccine in 2021. For comparison, the vaccination rate was between 61 and 66 percent for children between 1 and 4 years old from 1971 to 1985.
Furthermore, there are currently only 35 more measles cases than the total number recorded in 2019, according to the CDC. This is still about 800 fewer cases than recorded for the year of 1992 — the last time the number exceeded 1,300. It is also far lower than the 9,600 cases in 1991. Yet the corporate media continues to drive a narrative of fear based on the point that we are seeing “the most measles cases in more than 30 years.”
The largest outbreak in the U.S. is in Gaines County in Texas. The Gaines County outbreak began in the area’s Mennonite population. Cases in this “more mobile” group that often travels to other Mennonite communities reportedly led to other outbreaks in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.
The U.S. technically eliminated measles in 2000. According to the CDC, elimination means “there is no measles spreading within the country and new cases are only found when someone contracts measles abroad and returns to the country.” The CDC also warns that “measles can easily cross borders.”
It’s interesting, then, that the state with the highest number of measles cases also has the highest number of illegal border crossings, but, unsurprisingly, corporate media outlets have failed to draw that connection or hastily minimized it. Outbreaks more than five times as large as that of Gaines County currently exist in Canada and Mexico, and the total cases in Ontario, Canada, and in Chihuahua, Mexico, both far exceed total cases in the United States in 2025.
Representative Ryan Mackenzie, R-Penn., told Newsweek earlier this year that “large-scale migration from countries with low rates of immunization brings down our own nation’s average rates and increases our susceptibility to outbreaks.”
In Chicago last year, 57 measles cases were recorded in connection with a migrant shelter. A tuberculosis outbreak was associated with Chicago shelters at the time. In 2023, migrants apparently brought measles to New York City. The CDC and others have conducted studies on the prevalence of infectious diseases among immigrants and refugees, including tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea, Hansen’s disease, HIV, and hepatitis B and C.
As the spread in Texas slows, officials are already wondering if they should have taken a less vaccine-focused approach.
Jacqueline Annis-Levings is a correspondent for the Federalist. She is a rising junior at Patrick Henry College, where she is majoring in English.