The Morning: The measles outbreak

Plus, deportations, the war in Ukraine and a penguin retirement home.

View in browser|nytimes.com March 17, 2025 Good morning. Today you'll hear from our colleague Teddy Rosenbluth, who traveled to the center of a Texas measles outbreak. We're also covering deportations, the war in Ukraine and a penguin retirement home. In Lubbock, Texas. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images An outbreak By Teddy Rosenbluth I write about health. The United States declared victory over measles 25 years ago. And yet one of the worst outbreaks since then is ravaging Texas and New Mexico. For now, it isn't a threat to most Americans. But there's a reason this is happening — and why the next measles epidemic could be even worse. In today's newsletter, I'll explain the virus's possible resurgence in America. Sources: State health departments; C.D.C. | Data is through March 13. | By The New York Times Beating measles Derailing this virus was a decades-long project. The United States began administering a vaccine in 1963, soon after its invention. At the time, the disease infected nearly all children before they turned 15. Why did containment take so long? Because measles is one of the most contagious viruses on the planet. In a hypothetical community where nobody has immunity, each person with measles can infect up to 18 others. But this graphic by my colleague Jonathan Corum shows what happens when enough people are vaccinated: By Jonathan Corum Experts generally want a community to have a vaccination rate of around 95 percent. That means, statistically, that the virus will spread to fewer than one person in the group, causing it to fizzle out. That's exactly what the United States accomplished in the early 2000s. A campaign to encourage inoculation, alongside strict vaccine requirements at public schools, dropped infections from nearly 28,000 in 1990 to just 85 a decade later. The cases that popped up here and there were mainly from international travel. Source: C.D.C. | Data is through March 13, 2025, and totals for 2023-2025 are preliminary. | By The New York Times A reversal Experts worry we may now revive the disease. That's because vaccination rates for the measles, mumps and rubella shot, which had been hovering around 95 percent, began to fall during the pandemic. Data from the last school year shows that only 93 percent of kindergartners were inoculated — the danger zone. In some regions of the country, such as West Texas, it's closer to 80 percent. The country almost lost its elimination status from the World Health Organization thanks to an outbreak in New York six years ago. The fear now is that, as pockets of unvaccinated Americans continue to grow and multiply, measles will be more likely to hop from group to group, traveling farther and infecting more people. The current outbreak, which started in West Texas, has already spread to New Mexico and Oklahoma. Why has the rate of vaccination fallen so much? Part of the answer lies in the Covid pandemic. Conspiracy theories about Covid-19 vaccines made many question the safety of other routine shots. The vaccine-skepticism movement is growing quickly, driven by declining trust in science and rampant misinformation on social media. Unpopular pandemic mandates also fueled a revolt against vaccination requirements at public schools. In recent years, many states have weakened those mandates, which are perhaps the best way to keep childhood vaccination rates high. In 43 states, officials will grant an exemption based on religion. In 13 of those states, all you need is a personal objection to opt out of a school vaccine requirement. Two futures Some experts believe there is still time to rein in the virus. Perhaps if enough Americans witness the toll of measles, which killed an unvaccinated child in Texas in February, they will recall why vaccines are important. Others say that is naïve. They fear that distrust in science is so deeply rooted and that misinformation is so ubiquitous that many will choose to stay unvaccinated. And they worry that if vaccination rates don't rise, other preventable diseases like polio will follow. Vaccine skeptics now walk the corridors of power in Washington. President Trump has questioned the safety of vaccines. So has Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation's top health official, who wrote a book about measles in 2021 saying that outbreaks had been fabricated so the government could "inflict unnecessary and risky vaccines on millions." There is no cure for the virus, but Kennedy has also promoted unproven treatments: He said this month that doctors had told him about patients who had an "almost miraculous and instantaneous recovery" after they took cod liver oil, steroids and antibiotics. Health officials in Texas tell me such promises may have caused measles patients to delay medical care. The outbreak in Texas supports the pessimistic thesis. There, even communities plagued by serious illness and death have still largely rejected the M.M.R. vaccine. Related: The Times is keeping track of where measles is spreading. THE LATEST NEWS Immigration In Tecoluca, El Salvador. El Salvador's Presidency Press Office, via Reuters The Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, despite a judge's order that the planes reverse course and return to the U.S. It's unclear when exactly the planes landed. Legal analysts are trying to figure how close the administration is to open defiance of the judiciary. The White House denied that it had violated the order, saying that the president had broad powers to deport the migrants under an 18th-century law and that the federal courts had no jurisdiction over his power to expel foreign enemies. In Massachusetts, federal authorities deported a Lebanese professor at Brown University's medical school, even though she had a valid visa and despite a court order that temporarily blocked her expulsion. The Trump administration has revived the detention of undocumented immigrant families. The practice fell out of use during the Biden administration. Government Overhaul Cuts by Elon Musk's DOGE have reached the agency that manages America's nearly 4,000 nuclear bombs and warheads. "It's extremely destructive": Cost-cutting efforts could destabilize the Social Security Administration, many current and former officials warned. DOGE has moved to terminate more than 800 federal office leases. A government agency is reversing more than 100 of the terminations. More on Politics Many Democratic lawmakers are frustrated with Chuck Schumer for allowing a Republican spending bill to pass. The chairwoman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, once a champion of Eric Adams, endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York. War in Ukraine Ukrainian soldiers.  Finbarr O'Reilly for The New York Times Ukrainian forces have almost entirely pulled out of the Russia's Kursk region, ending an audacious offensive that began last summer. Trump said he would speak about the war with Vladimir Putin tomorrow. The U.S. withdrew from a multinational group created to investigate leaders responsible for the invasion of Ukraine, including Putin. More International News A nightclub fire in North Macedonia killed at least 59 people and injured more than 150. Fireworks during a concert set the club's roof ablaze. Deadly violence in northwestern Syria has highlighted the new government's lack of control over its forces and affiliated fighters. The Vatican released the first image of Pope Francis since he was hospitalized more than a month ago. Other Big Stories In Mississippi. Edmund D. Fountain for The New York Times A large storm system has killed at least 40 people across seven states. See photos of the devastation. The race to create artificial intelligence is changing the way the world builds computers. Birthrates have risen in states with abortion bans. The effects are most pronounced among Black and Hispanic women, and women without a college degree. Opinions Trump has dismantled the systems that monitor weather at a time when climate change makes them more important than ever, Jonathan Mingle writes. The public has to understand the risk of lab leaks if we want to prevent another pandemic. The way we were misled about Covid makes that harder, Zeynep Tufekci writes. Here are columns by Margaret Renkl on Native American tradition and M. Gessen on transgender rights. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS In Boston.  Cody O'Loughlin for The New York Times Retirement island: A Boston aquarium built a home for its geriatric penguins. Ask Vanessa: "How do I know which jeans are best for me?" Donor: Brendan Costello's family was bracing for goodbyes. But he had arranged one last interruption. Metropolitan Diary: Bird-watching is contagious. Most clicked yesterday: "'Gentle parenting' is spoiling my granddaughter. What should I do?" Lives Lived: Slick Watts was an undrafted, 6-foot-1 point guard who became seen as the ultimate Seattle SuperSonic. He also had patchy hair, and a headband that made an enduring fashion statement. Watts died at 73. SPORTS College basketball: The N.C.A.A. revealed its tournament brackets. See the men's and women's draw. N.F.L.: The Bengals agreed to contracts with their top two wide receivers, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase became the highest paid non-quarterback in league history. Women's soccer: Mak Whitham, 14, of Gotham F.C. became the youngest player to enter a league game. ARTS AND IDEAS Van Gogh or faux? Peter Fisher for The New York Times If you think you've acquired a work by Vincent van Gogh, you'll want to speak to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: Large auction houses are unlikely to sell your painting without its input. But the museum has become increasingly resistant to authentication requests — because disappointed art collectors can be litigious. More on culture On the Upper East Side. Lila Barth for The New York Times The Frick Collection, a museum based in Henry Clay Frick's Fifth Avenue mansion, will reopen next month after a $220 million renovation and expansion. See inside. A new "Hunger Games" novel, "Sunrise on the Reaping," goes on sale tomorrow. Read what to know. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Ryan Liebe for The New York Times Boil spaghetti, cherry tomatoes and kale in the same pot for a thick, starchy sauce. (This dish was in Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's new show.) Control your social media habit. Tame a nest of cables. Choose a gag gift that's actually useful. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangrams were outgunned and tongued. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. 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