Trump’s CDC sending disease detective to Pennsylvania to help fight worst measles outbreak in 35 years

The Trump administration is sending a disease detective to Pennsylvania after the state requested help in fighting its worst outbreak of measles in 35 years.Six people have died from the highly-contagious illness there in the past three months, including two infants, and cases have ballooned to 1,136.Pennsylvania formally requested assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC spokesman Gabriel Alvarado told The Independent. “Secretary Kennedy and CDC Director Dr. Schwartz continue to recommend the MMR vaccine as the most effective way to prevent measles and protect against infection. CDC will continue working closely with Pennsylvania health officials to provide the expertise and support needed to respond to the outbreak and protect public health,” Alvarado said Wednesday.A CDC disease detective - a scientist specifically trained to handle epidemics - is expected to arrive later this week. The CDC is also providing nearly $4 million to help the state battle the outbreak. Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro previously blasted what he called the Trump administration’s ‘incompetence’ in responding to measles. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a known vaccine skeptic, has previously claimed that Pennsylvania’s measles death toll was ‘fabricated’ (Getty Images)The state’s health department did not immediately return a request for comment.Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro previously blasted what he called the Trump administration’s “incompetence” in responding to measles. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a known vaccine skeptic, has previously claimed that Pennsylvania’s measles death toll was “fabricated.”Nationwide, cases of measles are also at their highest levels in 35 years which public health officials told The Independent was down to vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.Some 157 cases of measles have been reported in Pennsylvania in the last week. A measles case reported by Georgia health officials Tuesday was also tied to the Pennsylvania outbreak. More than 4,000 infections have been reported in nearly every state in the contiguous U.S. this year, according to the latest CDC data. The official CDC measles death count stands at two this year - four fewer than Pennsylvania’s official count. The CDC says the data will be updated based on new information and “relevant reviews.” Measles infections can be prevented with two doses of the MMR vaccine. Without it, infections can cause brain-swelling, pneumonia and death (Getty)Measles infections can be prevented with the MMR vaccine, which target measles, mumps and rubella. Two shots offer lifelong protection against severe illness. Without the shots, measles can cause life-threatening brain swelling, high fever, pneumonia and death.It has been decades since the last time measles ripped through the country in the same way and fewer people are getting vaccinated. “I think that not only did we eliminate the disease, we eliminated the memory of the disease. I think people don’t remember measles,” Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, previously told The Independent.