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Utah, Arizona confirm more measles cases amid growing outbreaks
News brief
Today at 1:56 p.m.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Measles
Measles outbreaks in both Utah and Arizona are growing, with Utah now having 102 cases, including eight students from Wasatch High School in Wasatch County in the northern part of the state, east of Provo.
The Salt Lake Tribunereported this week that Wasatch County has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the state; according to 2024-25 school year data, 13% of seventh graders in the county lacked documentation showing they had received the two-dose measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Arizona also reported 16 more measles cases, for a new total of 153. All new cases are in Mohave County, which, along with Southwest Utah, is the new epicenter of measles activity in the United States.
US nears 1,800 cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also updated national measles numbers. The 2025 total is now 1,798 confirmed cases. There have been 46 outbreaks, accounting for 87% of cases.
CDC’s new deputy director is vocal critic of vaccines, advocated for ivermectin
News brief
Today at 1:54 p.m.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Public Health
Ralph Abraham, MD, the former Louisiana surgeon general, has been quietly named the deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a controversial pick to help lead the nation’s top infectious disease organization as the second highest-ranking CDC official.
Abraham is a longtime critic of COVID-19 vaccines, advocated for the use of ivermectin during the pandemic, and has stated the United States should stop birth doses of hepatitis B vaccines.
As the state surgeon general, he told the health department to stop promoting mass vaccination campaigns and did not publicly respond to a pertussis (whooping cough) outbreak in Louisiana earlier this year for two months, even after two infants died.
In the New York Times yesterday, Nirav Shah, MD, who had served as the CDC deputy director for two years before resigning earlier this year, said Abraham is unqualified.
“A large part of the principal deputy’s portfolio is emergency response,” Shah told the newspaper. “Delayed notifying of the public of at least two pertussis deaths is not just unacceptable, it’s shameful.”
ALL BRIEFS
Utah, Arizona confirm more measles cases amid growing outbreaks
News brief
Today at 1:56 p.m.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Measles
Measles outbreaks in both Utah and Arizona are growing, with Utah now having 102 cases, including eight students from Wasatch High School in Wasatch County in the northern part of the state, east of Provo.
The Salt Lake Tribunereported this week that Wasatch County has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the state; according to 2024-25 school year data, 13% of seventh graders in the county lacked documentation showing they had received the two-dose measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Arizona also reported 16 more measles cases, for a new total of 153. All new cases are in Mohave County, which, along with Southwest Utah, is the new epicenter of measles activity in the United States.
US nears 1,800 cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also updated national measles numbers. The 2025 total is now 1,798 confirmed cases. There have been 46 outbreaks, accounting for 87% of cases.
CDC’s new deputy director is vocal critic of vaccines, advocated for ivermectin
News brief
Today at 1:54 p.m.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Public Health
Ralph Abraham, MD, the former Louisiana surgeon general, has been quietly named the deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a controversial pick to help lead the nation’s top infectious disease organization as the second highest-ranking CDC official.
Abraham is a longtime critic of COVID-19 vaccines, advocated for the use of ivermectin during the pandemic, and has stated the United States should stop birth doses of hepatitis B vaccines.
As the state surgeon general, he told the health department to stop promoting mass vaccination campaigns and did not publicly respond to a pertussis (whooping cough) outbreak in Louisiana earlier this year for two months, even after two infants died.
In the New York Times yesterday, Nirav Shah, MD, who had served as the CDC deputy director for two years before resigning earlier this year, said Abraham is unqualified.
“A large part of the principal deputy’s portfolio is emergency response,” Shah told the newspaper. “Delayed notifying of the public of at least two pertussis deaths is not just unacceptable, it’s shameful.”
ALL BRIEFS