ICE suspends ‘all movements’ at Texas detention center after measles outbreak
DHS has confirmed two cases of measles at the South Texas Family Residential Center and has suspended all movement within the facility.
Dr. Mehmet Oz is urging Americans to get the measles vaccine as measles cases spread across the country.
“Get vaccinated. We have a solution to the problem. Not all diseases are equally dangerous, and not all people are equally susceptible to them. But for measles, you should get vaccinated,” Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on February 8.
The measles outbreak has infected more than 2,600 people in all but six U.S. states since the beginning of 2025, jeopardizing the country’s status as a measles-free country. Measles was eradicated in the United States by 2000, but outbreaks flare up periodically, primarily among unvaccinated populations.
The highly contagious virus has continued to spread in the United States this year alone, with 733 confirmed cases in 20 states as of February 5, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But state health officials are reporting even higher case numbers. For example, the South Carolina Department of Public Health reported 920 measles cases in the state as of February 3.
Children typically receive two doses of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) as part of their routine immunizations. Children receive their first MMR dose at 12 to 15 months of age and their second MMR dose at 4 to 6 years of age.
However, vaccination rates have declined in recent years. According to the CDC, vaccination rates among U.S. kindergarteners declined from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.5% in the 2024-2025 school year, well below the threshold needed for effective herd immunity.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, said in an interview last year that he is encouraging people to get vaccinated against measles.
“We encourage people to get the measles vaccine,” President Kennedy told CBS News in April 2025.
“The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,” Kennedy wrote in a post on social media platform X that same month.
He previously said measles vaccines are “leaky” because they become less effective over time, a claim disputed by medical experts.
“The measles vaccine protects you for the rest of your life. The idea that it’s a leaky vaccine is completely false,” Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Center for Vaccine Education at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, previously told USA TODAY.
Contributor: Ken Alltucker
