No Sign of Texas Measles Outbreak Slowing, Contrary to RFK Jr.’s Claims

On four separate occasions, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services secretary, has suggested that the measles outbreak in Texas, which is now over 500 cases, is beginning to subside and grow more slowly. But a review of state data indicates there’s no decline yet in the pace of cases.

During a visit to West Texas to attend the funeral of an unvaccinated 8-year-old who died of measles, Kennedy said in an April 6 post on X that since the deployment of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team in early March, “the growth rates for new cases and hospitalizations have flattened.”

Two days later, in Phoenix, Arizona, Kennedy repeated the claim. “Our strategy has been very successful,” he said of dealing with the measles outbreak. “The number continues to grow by the day, but the growth rate … has diminished substantially.”

In an interview CBS News released on April 9, he said, “the rate of the increase has substantially decreased, so we are successfully controlling it.” And in an April 10 Cabinet meeting, Kennedy again said that measles cases “have now plateaued.”