CDC’s deputy director says measles outbreak is ‘cost of doing business’ in a global economy

A top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been condemned for his remarks that rampant measles outbreaks in the U.S., and increasing concern that America could lose its longstanding elimination status, were the “cost of doing business” in a global economy.

The elimination status, held by the U.S. since 2000, indicates that there has not been continuous spread of the highly infectious disease for more than a year.

“It’s just the cost of doing business, with our borders being somewhat porous [and] global and international travel,” Dr. Ralph Abraham, the agency’s recently sworn-in principal deputy director, said in a phone call Tuesday, according to STAT News.

The former Louisiana surgeon general, who had previously advocated for personal choice on vaccines, reportedly added that he would “not really” view the loss of the country’s elimination status as a significant event.

With measles cases at the highest levels since 1991 and unprecedented child deaths from infections, Abraham’s comments were met with swift criticism from public health experts.

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“This is appalling and not how public health leaders typically respond to ongoing outbreaks of preventable infectious diseases,” Kathleen Bachynski, an associate professor of public health at Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College, posted on the social media platform Bluesky.

“You can KEEP your status IF you identify imported cases and ACT to prevent ongoing transmission,” Dr. Gavin Yamey, a professor at Duke University’s Global Health Institute, urged in his own post. “But Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., won’t take action.”

Department of Health and Human Services Press Secretary Emily Hilliard told The Independent in an email on Wednesday that the U.S. continues to have a “lower overall measles burden than Canada ... Mexico and much of Europe.”

“As Dr. Abraham has noted, current outbreaks are largely concentrated in close-knit, under-vaccinated communities with prevalent international travel that raises the risk of measles importation,” she said. “The CDC’s focus remains on measles prevention and treatment education and targeted public health interventions to protect communities and provide clear, accurate information to all Americans.”

Whether or not the U.S. will lose its elimination status in the coming months remains to be seen, but the nation is heading in the wrong direction.

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In 2024, there were just 285 reported measles cases, according to CDC data. In 2025, there were more than 2,200 cases, as well as three deaths including two children.

The nation’s last child death from measles was in 2003, Dr. Leana Wen, the former commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department, posted on Instagram.

“This is tragic - and not normal,” she wrote. “In many ways, vaccines are a victim of their own success. People have forgotten the diseases that they prevent. While most who contract measles will fully recover, many will experience complications and there are some who will die.“

Two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine are 97 percent effective against infection and help to prevent severe cases, the CDC says.

The majority of infections - about 93 percent, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics - have been in people who are unvaccinated. Recent research has shown that the proportion of children not receiving their vaccine by the recommended age has increased since the pandemic.

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Right now, more than 560 of the 646 cases in South Carolina’s growing outbreak have been in people who were unvaccinated or just partially vaccinated, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health.

The department reported 88 new cases Tuesday at Clemson University, Anderson University and more than a dozen other schools.

“Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent measles and stop this outbreak,” the department said.

No cases have been reported among international visitors to the U.S. this year. A total of 25 cases were reported among international visitors to the U.S. in 2025.

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Dozens of outbreaks have been reported across the nation in the past year. Some 171 confirmed cases have been reported in the U.S. since the start of 2026 in South Carolina, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Utah and Virginia.

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the former leader of immunization and respiratory disease strategy at the CDC, told CBS News Tuesday that measles could very well be “becoming part of every day” in the future.

"If this is our vital sign, we're in the ICU," he said.