HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this week dismissed the measles outbreak in West Texas that killed an unvaccinated child as "not unusual" and appeared to misstate a number of key facts.

Measles was considered to be eliminted in the U.S. in 2000, thanks to vaccine developments. But vaccination rates have dropped since the covid pandemic began.

Texas is experiencing its largest measles outbreak in 30 years, primarily affecting the South Plains region. A child has died and several people have been hospitalized by the extremely contagious disease that was once considered eradicated,