By The measles outbreak has now surpassed 700 reported cases in the U.S., raising the pressure on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to rein in the deadly virus.
Overall, 712 cases have been reported with new cases being discovered in Kansas, Ohio and Indiana, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The outbreak has now spread to 25 states, per the data.
The uptick comes after Kennedy suggested earlier this week at a White House Cabinet meeting that cases were plateauing.
The Lone Star State still has the highest number of outbreaks, with 514 confirmed cases. The state added 36 new cases earlier this week, according to the latest tally from Texas Department of State Health Services. Gaines County alone has reported 355 outbreaks.
Since the outbreak of measles began to spread earlier this year in Texas, at least 56 people have been hospitalized with complications from the virus. Two school-aged kids in the state have died from the infection. Both were unvaccinated and had no known underlying conditions.
Kennedy visited Gaines County to comfort the family of an 8-year-old girl who died from the disease. The HHS secretary promoted the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine as the as the “most effective” way to prevent the spread of measles.
“My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief,” Kennedy, who has faced criticism for the department’s response to the outbreak and his previous stance on childhood vaccines, said earlier this month.
The number of cases in other states has also risen.
The tally has increased to 58 in New Mexico, with six being reported by people who had at least one dozen of the vaccine, the New Mexico Department of Health reported. One death in the state is being investigated after the deceased resident tested positive for measles. They were also unvaccinated, per the CDC.
In Kansas, the number of cases went up to 32, with half of those affected being between 5 and 17 years of age, the data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment shows.
There have been six reported cases of measles in Indiana so far, with all of them being discovered in Allen County, according to the Indiana Department of Health.
Despite facing blowback from his initial reaction to the outbreak, Kennedy has gotten some praise for saying the MMR vaccine is the “most effective way to prevent the spread” of the viral infection.
“We are seeing at least some sign this administration understands they need to respond more appropriately,” Jason Schwartz, a vaccine researcher at the Yale School of Public Health, told The Hill.
“It’s encouraging that there was an acknowledgement of basic public health knowledge, but it reminds us of just how little we’ve heard from this administration about the benefits of vaccination,” Schwartz added. “It’s noteworthy that the acknowledgement was the stuff of headlines.”
The outbreak represents the first time Kennedy has had to reconcile his past as a leading critic of vaccines since taking on the leadership role and as funding cuts under the Trump administration have hit public health offices that work to track and prevent the disease.