Leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ordered staff not to release their experts’ assessment that found high risk of catching measles in areas near outbreaks with low vaccination rates, according to internal records reviewed by ProPublica.
The agency had planned to emphasize the importance of vaccinating people against measles, but instead released a statement saying “leadership does not want to pursue putting this on the website.” The cancellation was unusual and has raised concerns among CDC staff about whether the agency is bending its public health messages to match those of new leadership.
A recent email from the CDC stated that leaders do not want to put out information on measles risk, citing lack of detailed data about vaccination rates in affected communities. However, modelers at the CDC had determined that the risk of measles for the general public was low, but high in communities with low vaccination rates near outbreaks.
The CDC has a long history of releasing assessments with moderate confidence, including one made earlier this year on H5N1 bird flu. This latest shift has raised concerns among some who worry that the agency is silencing its public health messages to align with new leadership.
In contrast, medical experts say that vaccination remains the best way to prevent measles, and supplementing with vitamin A can help reduce the severity of the disease, but not prevent it. The CDC had previously added an entry on Vitamin A to its measles website for clinicians.
Measles is a highly contagious disease that can be deadly, with 20% of unvaccinated people who get measles ending up in the hospital and nearly 1-3 out of every 1,000 children dying from respiratory and neurologic complications.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/31/health/cdc-measles-forecast-propublica/index.html