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Iran Planned To Rain Ballistic Missiles On Israel: This Is What It Has Left
Three Months After His Wedding, Avraham Azoulai from Yitzhar Killed In Gaza
Avraham Azoulai, a resident of Shaked Farm in the hills near Yitzhar, was killed while operating engineering equipment in Gaza, just three months after marrying. The Shomron Regional Council confirmed his passing on Wednesday.
Azoulai becomes the third individual from Yitzhar to be killed during the ongoing conflict. Like many from his community, he had volunteered to assist the IDF by working with heavy machinery in the Gaza Strip.
Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, delivered a heartfelt tribute: “Avraham was a hero, a true pioneer, one of the builders of the hilltops and farms. He worked on the preparation and development of farms and road construction in Samaria, fully dedicated to the settlement of the Land of Israel and its defense. He came to Samaria as a young man to build Samaria and was one of our finest who built the hilltops with courage and love. Avraham is the 31st from the region to fall in the Swords of Iron War. He gave his life for the people and the land when he did what he loved and believed in — building the land. The Samaria Regional Council family will support Ruth with everything she needs. The Samaria settlement family and the entire Itamar community are grieving and embracing the Azoulai and Yogev families.”
Golan Avgi, who heads the Yitzhar local council, also mourned the loss: “Avraham was a pioneer. He established a Jewish labor business. He enlisted in the reserves together with a large group of friends from the Itamar settlement, and they worked with heavy machinery in Gaza. I knew him as a man of integrity, talented, with good character traits, and beloved by everyone, by all who knew him and by all his friends.”
As previously reported, Azoulai is the third casualty from Yitzhar in this war. About eighteen months ago, Sergeant Yehonatan Luber was killed in combat in southern Gaza. Eight months later, Sergeant Shneur Zalman Cohen fell while fighting in the northern part of the Strip.
{Matzav.com Israel}
Trump Told Putin He’d Bomb Moscow, Warned Xi He’d Bomb Beijing
ATTENTION. This is Your Chance to Heed to Call for Cholei Yisroel!
[COMMUNICATED]
The RCCS Pre-Campaign is Now Live!
Donations are now being accepted for the Pre-Campaign portion of a major two-day push to provide RCCS with all they need to care for cancer patients in our communities.
The 2025 “Attention” Campaign is dedicated to hearing the Call of cholei Yisroel and opening doors for them to receive all the assistance they need as they struggle through the grim challenges of a dreaded diagnosis.
No matter where you live, the word “cancer” is a frightening reality for all too many of your neighbors, R”L. This dreadful disease and its treatment regimens afflict men, women, teenagers, even young children, of all ages and backgrounds – as well as their family and friends.
In our communities, virtually every one of these suffering souls relies on RCCS as a lifeline – the one stop resource that guides them from diagnosis through recovery and makes sure that everyone has access to the absolute best medical care available anywhere in the world.
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They arrange insurance guidance and advocacy, helping a patient navigate the complex world of insurance, and advocating for them when an insurer rejects a claim. They ensure that finances never stand between a patient and world-class treatment.
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It now costs over $31 million a year for RCCS to cover its global operations; including paying insurance premiums and other patient expenditures. RCCS is currently helping over 5,000 patients and their families with everything they need to fight cancer – with dozens of new patients reaching out for help each week. Jewish communities around the country have united to support RCCS’s lifesaving operations through a special two day “ATTENTION” online fundraising campaign. This is RCCS’s primary community fundraising event in these communities for the year.
You now have an opportunity to help RCCS save lives. The start of the Pre-Campaign means that you can submit your donation now. Please jump in and be among the first to grab this zechus. With your support, RCCS will get off towards a great start to reach its goal!
First Live Performance of Ribo and Shmuel’s Hit Duet Set for Bethel Woods
Netanyahu to Hegseth: Israel-US Cooperation ‘Like the Roar of Two Lions’
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu sat down on Wednesday with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon for a significant conversation focused on military collaboration and strategic stability in the region. The dialogue underscored a strong bond rooted in shared values and mutual defense, and looked ahead to greater prospects built on that alliance.
As the meeting began, Netanyahu recalled his long history of visits to the Pentagon. “Do you know how many times I’ve been in this room?” he asked. When Hegseth encouraged him to guess, Netanyahu replied, “I’d say 40, 50 times.”
Throughout the meeting, both leaders spoke with deep appreciation for the United States Armed Forces, especially the contributions of US Central Command (CENTCOM) to Israel’s defense posture. Netanyahu voiced his admiration, saying, “Thank you, absolute thanks, gratitude and admiration for CENTCOM, for the US military, for the Secretary of Defense, and the President of the United States. Magnificent. You have the gratitude of the people of Israel and the State of Israel, and I think of many, many others around the world.”
Hegseth echoed that sentiment, pointing out the extraordinary professionalism and valor of American troops involved in missions that support Israel’s safety. “The skill and the bravery and the courage of US forces involved in that operation, including in the defense of Israel, whether it was in the Mediterranean or with THAAD batteries or others, was incredible,” he said. “And so, CENTCOM played a — he did it in his own quiet way, but just incredibly effective.”
Their exchange also covered the impact of Operation Rising Lion, which came to fruition after two months of behind-the-scenes planning. Hegseth commended the careful coordination between Israeli and American forces and their remarkable precision during the mission. “The precision with which you went at the nuclear capabilities and then the opportunity we had through those B-2 pilots, the F-35, F-22, F-15 pilots that accompanied the refuelers to help put the finishing touches, you might say, on those facilities, it was an honor to be a part of it.”
Netanyahu responded with strong affirmation, highlighting the significance of the strike and how it resonated across the globe. “I think the entire world took note. I think Iran took note. I think everybody in the Middle East took note of American resolve and of the strength of our alliance. I think it was a — frankly, it was like the roar of two lions, and it was heard around the world.”
The meeting naturally moved into a discussion about diplomacy rooted in strength. Netanyahu referred to his ongoing conversations with President Trump, remarking, “President Trump and I always talk about peace through strength, first comes strength, then comes the peace. And we hope we’ll realize the fruits of strength very soon in peace.”
Hegseth affirmed that idea, agreeing that military power can pave the way for diplomatic breakthroughs. “It does start with strength, but it always goes to peace, and we have that opportunity in the region because of your efforts and the efforts of our president.”
As their discussion concluded, Netanyahu reflected on the unique alliance between the US and Israel, describing it as one of the defining partnerships of our time. “We are blessed with two great free societies that have joined together.” Hegseth wrapped up the meeting with praise for Israel’s role as a dependable and courageous partner. “Thank you for being a friend, a model ally, and showing leadership and strength,” he said, reaffirming the enduring strength of the US-Israel relationship.
{Matzav.com}
Can Musk Succeed Where Others Failed? The Long History of Third Parties in America
JIHAD IN NY: Mamdani Ties to Muslim Brotherhood-Linked Mosque Raise Alarm
New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has come under scrutiny after attending Friday services in January at a Brooklyn mosque long linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. Some Muslim critics are now urging voters to reexamine Mamdani’s alignment with the Brotherhood, a movement known for backing various terrorist groups and advocating for a global Islamic rule. The Brotherhood, which was recently outlawed in Jordan for destabilizing activities, has consistently shifted toward authoritarian rule wherever it gained power. Its vision includes the revival of an Islamic caliphate reminiscent of the pre-1924 era.
Mamdani’s alignment with the Muslim Brotherhood is not new. In 2013, as widespread demonstrations broke out in Egypt against then-President Mohamed Morsi, Mamdani publicly sided with Morsi’s Brotherhood-led administration. That same June, he took to Twitter to defend the group’s record in Egypt, publishing a lengthy thread titled “Unpacking Anti-Muslim Brotherhood Discourse.”
The Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, the mosque Mamdani visited, has a controversial past. The former imam once hailed Reem Al-Riyashi, a Hamas suicide bomber who blew herself up in 2004, as a “martyr” and rejected the notion that Hamas commits terrorism. The mosque’s association with extremism traces back to 1994, when a Jewish student was murdered near the Brooklyn Bridge in a retaliatory attack tied to the group, following the massacre of Palestinians in Hebron by an Israeli gunman.
President Donald Trump criticized Mamdani over his far-left economic views, declaring him “a communist” for advocating government control over industries and food distribution. Mamdani himself once joked on X (formerly Twitter), “the commie routine is cover for Sharia law” and added, “communism IS Sharia law.”
Zuhdi Jasser, who leads the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, voiced his concern over Mamdani’s dual ideological leanings. “This is a primary example of the red-green axis where you have a trained progressivist and Marxist promoting Socialism and also Islamism,” Jasser said.
The mosque’s imam, Sheikh Mohamed Elbar, who hosted Mamdani during the January visit, is affiliated with the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), a Qatari-financed group known for opposing normalization with Israel. Elbar has publicly denounced Muslim leaders willing to make peace with Israel and condemned those who called on Palestinians to lay down their weapons in 2018.
IUMS, largely led by Muslim Brotherhood members, has a history of supporting Hamas and harboring extremists, including individuals linked to al-Qaida. The group’s founder, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, once gave his blessing to suicide bombings and declared that Islam would conquer the West—not by war, but through missionary work and immigration. “Islam will prevail and overcome all the religions,” Qaradawi said at a 1995 convention in Ohio. “Conquest through dawah, that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through the sword but through dawah.”
The IUMS’s platform aligns with the Muslim Brotherhood’s charter, which defines it as a global religious-political movement working to establish Islamic rule and ultimately a theocratic state.
Elbar has also made openly antisemitic remarks. In a 2014 protest in New York against Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, he accused Saudi Arabia of being “dirtier than the Jews” and accused them of selling out Egypt to Jewish interests. His hostility toward Israel is not confined to politics—it clearly crosses into hatred of Jews as a whole.
The New York Post revealed last August that Elbar prayed for the destruction of Israel and praised Hamas fighters. “Oh Allah, annihilate those who occupied their lands, and those who betrayed and deserted them, and those who spilled their blood,” he said. “The mujahideen [Hamas fighters] in Gaza are achieving more than our Arab armies could in 1967 and 1973.”
After the fall of the Brotherhood regime in Egypt, Elbar became a leading voice for Egyptian Americans for Democracy and Human Rights (EADHR), a group filled with Muslim Brotherhood loyalists. Egyptian officials have linked the group to fundraising for terrorist activities and promoting violent rhetoric. Elbar himself once expressed hope that President El-Sisi would be executed. “[O]nce people pledge allegiance to a Muslim ruler, it is forbidden to struggle against him and remove him, and if anyone removes him, he should be beheaded,” he said in Arabic at a 2016 rally. “Do you know who ought to be beheaded? Who should be stricken with the sword or hanged or detained? He who came to fight, and not the legitimate president [Morsi].”
At that same 2016 conference, which his organization co-hosted, Elbar appeared alongside Gamal Heshmat, a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau, revealing Elbar’s connections to the Brotherhood’s upper ranks.
Elbar’s veneration of the late Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef, who lauded Osama bin Laden as a “mujahid,” raises further concerns. When Akef died in prison in 2017, Elbar declared, “We ask Almighty Allah to elevate Mahdi Akef to the ranks of the martyrs … Oh Allah, he died as a Mujahid for your cause, so grant him the status of the Mujahideen.” A memorial for Akef was also held at the Bay Ridge mosque—an event only Brotherhood insiders would organize.
Zahack Tanvir, an Indian Muslim writer critical of Islamist ideology, said Mamdani’s engagement with Elbar and the Bay Ridge mosque reflects troubling priorities. “Zohran Mamdani’s visit to the Bay Ridge mosque and meeting with Imam Sheikh Mohamed Elbar, linked to Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, raises concerns about his priorities,” Tanvir told Newsmax. “While Mamdani champions progressive causes like Pride rallies, the imam’s views reportedly clash with those values, including harsh stances on issues like socialism and LGBTQ rights based on his interpretation of Islamic law.”
Tanvir added, “This Ilhan Omar league, supports the Islamists and empower them come what may. Quran speaks against Socialism, and the Imam is well-aware of it, and would be teaching his followers about how communism, socialism are the tools of Satan and Muslims eventually have to eliminate all Isms and establish Shariah.”
Mamdani’s supporters have dismissed the controversy, attributing it to anti-Muslim bigotry. Defenders include prominent Democrats and Islamist-leaning activists, as well as organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). “Many of the trends we are seeing mirror common Islamophobic content — Muslims as other and as a threat,” said CAIR’s Corey Saylor in a statement to The Guardian.
But CAIR’s roots raise their own questions. The organization was established in 1994 by figures tied to Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, according to federal court documents. The Palestine Committee’s mission, per internal records, was to build support for Hamas in the U.S. In 2009, Judge Jorge Solis ruled in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case that prosecutors presented “prima facie evidence” linking CAIR to a plot to back Hamas.
Mamdani’s admiration for the five men convicted in that 2008 case was publicly expressed in a rap he released in 2017, in which he declared his “love” for the “Holy Land Five.” The charity at the center of that case, the Holy Land Foundation, was founded by Marzook in 1990 and operated under the Brotherhood’s umbrella.
“He seems to be comfortable with … Islamist groups and speaks to the demagoguery,” Jasser observed. “Ideologically, he is obviously … because of his aspirations he stays silent on the theology, but that’s pretty typical of the political Islamists … Even though they don’t say it publicly, they are part of the political Islamist movement represented by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Khomenists that want to achieve the global caliphate.”
{Matzav.com}
Jewish Children in Ukraine Camp Rushed to Safety Amid Russian Drone Attach [VIDEOS]
Trump Announces Planned Tariffs On Six More Nations Ahead ofAugust 1 Deadline
President Trump issued a fresh series of tariff warnings on Wednesday, notifying six nations that they’ll face steep duties on their exports to the U.S. unless new trade deals are finalized by August 1.
The Philippines was told it would be hit with a 20% tariff rate. Brunei and Moldova were warned of a 25% duty, while Algeria, Iraq, and Libya are now staring down the possibility of a 30% tariff unless negotiations succeed.
“It is a Great Honor for me to send you this letter in that it demonstrates the strength and commitment of our Trading Relationship,” Trump wrote in each of the letters sent to the respective countries.
The letters emphasized the justification for these proposed levies, with Trump stating, “Please understand that these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States.”
He further argued that the consequences of these trade imbalances were not limited to the economy. “This [trade] Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!”
The proposed rates largely aligned with those Trump introduced back on April 2 during his so-called “Liberation Day” announcement, where he outlined a sweeping plan of tailored tariffs targeting nations around the globe.
Although originally scheduled to go into effect shortly after that announcement, the tariff rollout was postponed for 90 days. Trump later pushed the implementation date to August 1, giving countries a final window to negotiate and avoid the penalties.
{Matzav.com}
Kamala Harris’ Interview On TikTok’s ‘Subway Takes’ Was So Bizarre, ‘We Mutually Agreed To Delete It,’ Host Reveals
Kamala Harris once recorded an interview ahead of the presidential election that was ultimately deemed too bizarre to release, according to a social media host who recently disclosed the incident.
The then-candidate participated in a taping of “Subway Takes,” an internet-based show hosted by Kareem Rahma, where guests reveal controversial or unexpected opinions. The segment, filmed during the summer of 2024, never made it online. Rahma explained the situation in an interview with Forbes reporter Steven Bertoni, which was posted to TikTok on Monday.
“Her take was really confusing and weird, not good, and so [we] mutually agreed we shouldn’t publish it,” Rahma told Bertoni during their conversation.
Rahma admitted the taping had gone so poorly that he genuinely worried the backlash could have been pinned on him if Harris lost the election. He shared how unsettling the exchange felt at the time.
“Her take was that bad?” Bertoni asked.
“It was really, really bad,” Rahma responded. “It didn’t make any sense.”
Trying to recall the strange moment, Rahma described Harris’s “hot take” with visible discomfort: “Bacon as a spice.”
According to Rahma, Harris’s team had initially informed the show’s producers that her chosen opinion would be a stance against people removing their shoes during flights.
However, when the cameras started rolling, Harris unexpectedly pivoted to an entirely different statement.
“Bacon is a spice,” Harris declared, as reported by The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the unreleased video.
Rahma, who follows a Muslim diet and refrains from eating pork, seemed startled and replied uncertainly, “I don’t know.” But Harris stuck with her position.
“Think about it, it’s pure flavor,” she elaborated, explaining that crispy bacon bits could function like a seasoning to enhance dishes.
Rahma then asked if an alternative like turkey or beef bacon could be used instead. He paused to clarify to Harris that he doesn’t consume bacon at all.
He suggested returning to the original plan — a segment about airline etiquette involving shoe removal.
Instead, Harris pivoted once again. After a brief exchange with one of her advisers, she launched into an unexpected endorsement of anchovies as a pizza topping.
The conversation rapidly deteriorated into awkwardness, prompting Rahma to bring it to a close.
“Well, I’m 100 percent unsure on both of those,” he said, ending the segment with an uneasy laugh.
{Matzav.com}
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Biden Doctor Kevin O’Connor Pleads The Fifth Rather Than Answer Questions About Ex-Prez’s Health
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who previously served as the White House physician, chose not to respond to questions on Wednesday regarding Joe Biden’s cognitive health. Instead, he invoked the Fifth Amendment and left a high-stakes congressional deposition without offering any insight.
O’Connor, who has been closely connected to the Biden family for years, departed from the House Oversight Committee session after roughly an hour. As he left, his attorney, David Schertler, addressed reporters with a brief statement: “No comments to press.”
“Dr. O’Connor pleaded the Fifth Amendment,” stated Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky shortly after O’Connor’s exit. “I’m gonna read the first two questions that were asked.”
“‘Were you ever told to lie about the president’s health?’ He pleaded the Fifth Amendment,” Comer recounted. “‘Did you ever believe President Biden was unfit to execute his duties?’ Again, President Biden’s White House physician pleaded the Fifth Amendment.”
An Oversight Committee spokesperson confirmed that the only answer O’Connor gave was stating his name. The spokesperson also noted that doctor-patient confidentiality would not have prevented him from addressing many of the questions posed.
Calling the situation “unprecedented,” Comer asserted that the physician’s refusal to answer only intensified suspicions of a coordinated attempt to hide the president’s mental deterioration.
In a press release following the deposition, Comer further alleged there had been “a conspiracy to cover up” the mental state of the nation’s 46th president.
“Congress must assess legislative solutions to prevent such a coverup from happening again,” he continued. “We will continue to interview more Biden White House aides to get the answers Americans deserve.”
The committee has already scheduled its next conversation for Friday with Ashley Williams, who once served as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations.
Annie Tomasini, who previously held the title of Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff, is slated for an interview on July 18.
According to Comer, O’Connor’s decision to take the Fifth lent further weight to the claims made in the book Original Sin, published in May by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, which portrays a group of Biden aides — dubbed the “Politburo” — as the true power brokers within the administration.
The group described in the book included Tomasini, along with several other senior staffers who are also expected to appear before the committee. These include Ron Klain, former White House chief of staff (scheduled for July 24); Steve Ricchetti, who served as counselor to the president (July 30); Mike Donilon, another longtime adviser (July 31); and Bruce Reed, the former deputy chief of staff for policy (August 5).
Anita Dunn, who stepped down from her role as senior communications adviser in August 2024, has agreed to appear for a transcribed interview on August 7.
One of the central questions O’Connor declined to answer was whether he had ever been directed to lie about Biden’s condition — a refusal that has become a flashpoint for critics.
The Trump White House, according to sources, opted not to exercise executive privilege to block any of O’Connor’s responses.
“There’s more and more evidence that comes out every day that would suggest that the president was in a pretty severe mental decline, so we’re going to ask about that,” Comer said ahead of the hearing.
“We can’t have the physician’s office not being truthful about the health condition of the president,” he added, noting that this inquiry is part of a broader probe into who within the administration was permitted to use an autopen for official signatures, including executive orders and pardons.
Schertler, who accompanied O’Connor at the deposition, is a well-known criminal defense attorney who also represented Dr. Anthony Fauci during his testimony before a separate Oversight subcommittee last year focused on the coronavirus pandemic.
{Matzav.com}
Measles Cases Hit Record High, 25 Years After U.S. Eliminated the Disease
The United States has reached its highest annual measles case tally in 33 years, hitting at least 1,277 confirmed cases across 38 states and the District of Columbia.
The milestone marks a public health reversal in defeating a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease as the anti-vaccine movement gains strength.
The nation surpassed infections reported in 2019, reaching the largest number of cases since 1992, when officials recorded more than 2,100 infections, according to data published Friday from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation (CORI).
“It’s devastating,” said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, a national organization of state and local immunization officials. “We worked so hard to eliminate the threat of measles and to keep it at bay.”
Authorities said at least 155 people have been hospitalized and three people have died of measles-related complications this year. The dead include two otherwise healthy children in Texas and a man in New Mexico, all of who were unvaccinated. In contrast, only three measles deaths were reported between 2001 and 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 92 percent of measles cases in 2025 were in people who were either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, according to the CDC.
Data from the CDC does not yet reflect the record as it is updated weekly on Wednesdays, while the Johns Hopkins’ site validates data every weekday.
The largest outbreak has been in West Texas, where officials have recorded more than 750 cases since late January and believe the true toll is much higher. Data shows that outbreak has slowed, but that it has spread to surrounding states.
Unrelated clusters of cases emerged elsewhere, usually originating with an unvaccinated person who traveled abroad.
Measles was officially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 with high vaccination coverage and rapid outbreak response. Cases still popped up periodically. But in recent years, large outbreaks with 50 or more cases have become more frequent, especially in close-knit communities with low vaccination coverage.
Public health experts say the U.S. is on track to lose the elimination status if there is continuous spread of linked measles cases for more than 12 months.
“It’s a harbinger of things to come,” said Eric Ball, a pediatrician who heads the California chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Once we see a resurgence of measles, we know that other diseases are going to come behind it.”
– – –
Consequences of vaccine distrust
Misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine fueled the 1,274 cases recorded in 2019, according to public health officials and researchers.
The outbreaks that year were concentrated in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in New York, highlighting the risks in tight-knit communities where vaccine distrust takes hold.
Confidence in public health measures, especially vaccines, has fallen since then, and is sharply divided along political lines.
The national rate for MMR vaccination among kindergartners was slightly above 95 percent in 2019, the level of community protection scientists say is needed to prevent measles outbreaks. But that rate is now under 93 percent and falling, according to the CDC.
Even in states with high vaccination coverage, pockets of unvaccinated people tend to cluster together. Measles is so contagious that a person without immunity exposed to the virus is highly likely to be infected and to spread it days before they develop symptoms.
A recent study showed that if U.S. vaccination rates continue to decline, the nation could face millions of cases over the next 25 years.
A poll conducted in March by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation found that 79 percent of adults say parents should be required to have children vaccinated against preventable diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella to attend school. Support was stronger among Democrats, 90 percent, than among Republicans, 68 percent.
Five years after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, less than half the public says it has at least some confidence in federal health agencies to carry out core public health responsibilities, according to a poll conducted in April by the health care think tank KFF.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist who ascended to be the top U.S. health official, has offered mixed messages about measles and the vaccine to prevent it.
He initially downplayed the seriousness of the Texas outbreak after the first child died, saying: “We have measles outbreaks every year.” He accompanied his calls for vaccination with caveats, raising concerns about the shots that public health experts called unfounded.
Kennedy has responded to the measles outbreak “with clear guidance that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent measles,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement. “At the same time, we recognize that some individuals and communities across the U.S. may choose not to vaccinate. Our commitment is to support all families – regardless of their vaccination status – in avoiding hospitalization and serious complications from measles, including death.”
To help achieve this shared goal, Nixon said the CDC has developed a measles tool kit that is regularly updated and designed to offer options “tailored meet communities where they are.”
Unlike previous large measles outbreaks, the CDC has not held any media briefings.
Nola Jean Ernest, a pediatrician in rural southeastern Alabama, said many of her patients trust others who share their political views more than her when it comes to vaccination.
She now sees patients who vaccinated older children refuse to vaccinate their infants.
“I’ve had several conversations in the last few months where they will say, ‘We still trust you, we just don’t trust the vaccines,’” Ernest said recently. “That really breaks my heart.”
– – –
Anatomy of an outbreak
In Texas, infections in late January spread quickly within Gaines County’s Mennonite community, some of whom educate their children at home or at private schools without vaccine mandates. The county had among the lowest kindergarten MMR vaccination rates in Texas, about 82 percent, according to state immunization data.
Public health officials said they faced challenges in controlling the outbreak because many people were not getting tested or vaccinated for measles.
Anti-vaccine groups mobilized quickly on the ground. Many Mennonite families turned to a prominent anti-vaccine doctor who offered unproven alternative treatments. Kennedy praised that doctor and his methods in a visit to the region.
Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy, interviewed the parents of a 6-year-old girl who died of measles, blaming her death on medical error rather than vaccination status. The organization did not immediately return a request for comment.
Eventually, 36 Texas counties reported measles cases.
Young adults from El Paso who work in oil fields close to Gaines County were among those infected this spring.
El Paso went from five cases to 53 in a month, said Hector Ocaranza, director of the city and county health authority. Ocaranza said his community was vulnerable because a growing number of young adults, listening to what they see and hear on social media, are not getting vaccinated.
Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Health Department, said last week that the reporting of new measles cases has slowed, crediting rising population immunity from infections and increased vaccination.
But the outbreak is not over.
Transmission is continuing in Gaines County, as well as Lamar County, in northeast Texas bordering Oklahoma, according to health department data.
In Chihuahua, Mexico, which borders Texas and New Mexico, a child who visited Texas in February started a large measles outbreak that now exceeds 2,400 cases and eight deaths as of last week, according to data from the Pan American Health Organization.
– – –
A costly disease
Measles outbreaks require vast personnel, time, dollars and messaging, public health experts say.
The 2019 outbreak cost New York City $8.4 million with 550 staff involved in the response, according to a 2020 report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Funding for state and local public health agencies, including immunization programs, has been slashed after increasing during the pandemic. Public health workers have been laid off because of widespread budget cuts across the federal health agencies.
Because of the decreased funding, Texas had to pull resources and staff from other parts of its health department to respond to the outbreak, David Sugerman, a senior CDC scientist, told a committee of agency vaccine advisers in April.
In Dallas, which has had one measles case this year, health officials had to lay off 16 immunization staff because of federal cuts, said Philip Huang, director of the county’s health and human services department.
“The fact that this is occurring at the same time that we are seeing more measles cases in Texas than we have seen in more than 30 years makes absolutely no sense,” Huang said.
(c) 2025, The Washington Post
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