Kentucky is in the throes of a measles outbreak. Health officials in the state have confirmed that an outbreak of the highly contagious respiratory virus has spread to Fayette County after beginning in Woodfood County. There are currently five active measles cases in Kentucky, four of which are connected to the same outbreak. The cases come as the United States deals with the largest outbreak of measles since the virus was declared eliminated in 2000. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 1,267 confirmed measles cases this year—although Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr is still spewing anti-vaccine rhetoric, including the false claim that the MMR jab used to prevent measles is made from “aborted fetuses.” Symptoms of measles include high fever, cough, a runny nose, and rashes. While severe cases are rare, measles can lead to swelling of the brain and even death. The disease can be particularly severe in infants, pregnant women, and in those with weakened immune systems. Aside from the Kentucky outbreak, there are currently 1,169 cases of measles in Alberta, Canada, and 2,810 cases in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. This year, two children in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico have died of measles. They were all unvaccinated.
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