Via NBC News. Summary in our own words, [read the original here].
The story: NBC News tracks U.S. measles cases using CDC data. Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but 2025 saw 2,276 confirmed cases, the most since 1991, and three people died, including two young girls. The count has climbed much higher: 5,182 cases had been reported nationally this year as of last Thursday, more than twice the total for all of 2025. A Pan American Health Organization commission is due to decide this month whether the U.S. keeps its elimination status. About 92% of cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose status is unknown, and most are in people 19 or younger. Canada lost its elimination status last year, and the United Kingdom lost its status in January. nbcnews.com/…/track-measles-outbreak-cases-us-map-rcna198932 +4
Dr. Teddy Okafor-Whitlock: (unfolds the paper, frowns, folds it again, and finally sets it flat) Good morning, flock. Today’s story isn’t a political fight so much as a public health one, though as we’ll see, it’s become both. A reminder before we start: nothing we say here is medical advice. If you have a question about vaccines, ask your doctor. Dolores, I can see you’ve brought your hand sanitizer to the atrium.
Dolores the Dove: (gently placing a tiny bottle on the table) Professor, I did, and I’m not embarrassed. I want to begin with the children. Three people died last year, two of them young girls, and a disease we once called eliminated is back at levels we haven’t seen in decades. Public health experts say you generally need around 95% of people immunized to keep measles from spreading, and when that slips, the people who pay are the ones who can’t be vaccinated, like babies and children with weak immune systems. My view is that vaccines are one of the great kindnesses of modern science, and I’d like us to treat them that way, not as a lifestyle choice.
Poe the Raven: I’d like to register, with a joy I can barely hide, that measles is the only thing more contagious than my pessimism. (slow blink) But let me make the case that nobody else in this room wants to make, because I think it deserves a fair hearing. A growing number of people don’t trust the people telling them what to inject, and some of that distrust is earned. If you want trust back, mandates and lectures won’t buy it. I’m also willing to say that this disease spreads to other people, which weakens the pure “my body, my choice” argument. Liberty matters. So does not making your neighbor’s baby sick. I’d like both ideas to share a perch.
Dolores: Poe, did you just agree with me on something?
Poe: I agreed with the baby, Dolores. Don’t let it go to your head.
Dr. Teddy: Easy, both of you. Ptolemy, I suspect you have a chart, and for once, I’d like it.
Professor Ptolemy the Owl: (unrolls a chart with a very steep line going off the top) Teddy, I’m delighted. Known: the CDC count for this year has passed 5,000, which is more than twice last year’s total, and about 92% of cases are among the unvaccinated or those with unknown status. The status review is about whether the country has had more than a year of continuous spread, and it’s the same standard that Canada and the UK didn’t meet. A footnote of caution, since this topic invites blame: the 2025 outbreak began before the current HHS leadership took office, and the decline in childhood vaccination rates started years earlier. Causes here are multiple, and I’d be wary of any one-bird explanation. Which, I note, is a rare thing for me to say with this many birds present.
Reverend Rooster Clay the Rooster: (spreads his wings, serious for once) Friends, I want to say something about faith, because it keeps coming up in these stories. The Texas outbreak centered on a Mennonite community, and I’m told the church itself doesn’t oppose vaccines. That matters. Faith isn’t the enemy of medicine, and where I come from, our pastors tell people to see the doctor, get the shot, and bring a casserole to the family that’s sick. I believe in religious liberty, deeply. But I also believe the Good Book tells us to love our neighbor, and part of loving your neighbor is not handing them a disease. I’d rather be a rooster who crows “talk to your doctor” than a rooster who crows nothing.
Gus the Pigeon: (through a mouthful of fry) Reverend, that’s the first sermon I’ve understood all week. I’ve got a different question. I don’t know who to believe. The guy in charge of health says it’s a personal choice, then he says get the shot, then somebody says he’s the problem, then somebody says it’s all politics. I’m just a pigeon with a day job. I need somebody to tell me the same thing twice.
Dolores: Gus, I think you’ve just described the trust problem better than any expert could.
Gus: I’m not trying to be profound. I’m trying to figure out if my cousin’s kids need a booster.
Dr. Teddy: Gus, the honest answer is: ask the cousin’s pediatrician, not a pigeon, not a parrot, and not a professor. And let me make an observation about the “who to believe” problem, because it’s fair to give each side its due. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said publicly that parents should get their children vaccinated against measles, calling the vaccine effective. He has also emphasized personal choice and has stopped short of supporting a mandate. His critics, including congressional Democrats and some public health experts, say his earlier rhetoric undermined confidence in vaccines, while he has said the outbreak began before he took office, and some of his defenders praise his emphasis on choice and safety. Both things are true: he has encouraged the shot, and people disagree about how much his messaging helped or hurt.
Poe: I’d add that this is a rare issue where everyone publicly says they support the vaccine and nobody trusts anyone else’s reasons.
Pickles the Parrot: (sneezes theatrically) “Achoo! Achoo!”
Dr. Teddy: Pickles, cover your beak. And that was a wonderful teachable moment.
Sterling the Bald Eagle said he’d rather leave the flag out of this one and let the doctors talk. He was spotted a few minutes later quietly rolling up his sleeve to check whether his own records were current. Teddy decided not to mention it.
Dr. Teddy: Let me pull the conversation back, because I hear three questions in this story. First, what’s happening: Ptolemy’s chart, which is alarming. Second, why: Dolores, Poe, Rooster, and Gus each gave a piece, and Ptolemy reminded us it’s multiple causes. Third, what do we do: mandates, choice, persuasion, or all three? That’s the one we haven’t answered. Poe, you start, since you’re the one who worries about government power.
Poe: I’d start with persuasion and access: make the shot easy, free, and available, and send trusted local voices, not distant officials. If we’re talking about school requirements, I’d want exemptions to be real but not a rubber stamp. I’m uncomfortable with force, but I’m not blind to what happens when too many people opt out.
Dolores: I’d say stronger school requirements, with honest outreach alongside them. California tightened its exemption rules in 2016 and I think that’s worth studying. But I’ll concede Poe’s point: you can’t only mandate. If people don’t trust the messenger, a rule just makes them angry.
Rooster Clay: And I’d add that the person who persuades a doubting parent is usually not a senator, it’s a neighbor. So let’s use the potluck, the church basement, the school pickup line. People trust the folks who’ve shown up for them before.
Gus: I’d say make it easy and make it free, and tell me one clear thing. If I hear it from the doctor, the pastor, and the school nurse, I’ll listen.
Dr. Teddy: Gus has just described what every public health agency spends millions trying to learn. Let’s see if we can find what we all agree on. Is the measles vaccine effective?
Dolores: Yes.
Poe: (grudgingly) The evidence says yes.
Rooster Clay: Yes, and I’ll say it from the pulpit.
Gus: Yes. Also, can I get a sticker?
Dr. Teddy: Gus, I’ll personally make you a sticker.
Dr. Teddy’s Wrap-Up
Dr. Teddy: (sets down the mug) All right, flock, here’s what I heard. On the facts, measles cases this year are more than double last year’s record, most cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose status is unknown, and the U.S. is facing a decision this month on whether it keeps its elimination status. On the causes, Ptolemy cautioned that they’re multiple, and nobody in this room claimed otherwise. On what to do, Dolores favored stronger school requirements, Poe favored easy access and persuasion over force, Rooster Clay pointed to trusted local voices, and Gus asked for one clear message.
Where you disagreed was how much to rely on rules versus persuasion. Where you agreed, all of you, was that the vaccine is effective and that trust, not just policy, is the real challenge. And Gus has been promised a sticker.
What to watch: the status decision, the weekly CDC counts, state fights over school exemptions, and whether more doctors, pastors, and neighbors join the conversation.
And no, Poe, I’m still not telling you how I’d vote. Pickles, give Dolores back her hand sanitizer.
Pickles: “Achoo!”
Dr. Teddy: (sighs) Class dismissed.
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