‘Viruses don’t know borders’: US anti-vaccine rhetoric could impact global measles crisis | Vaccines and immunisation

The US government has amplified its anti-vaccine rhetoric and indicated that it does not consider measles a priority, which could have global consequences as countries around the world have lost or are on the verge of losing their measles elimination status.

The World Health Organization announced in late January that six European countries: the United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan had all officially lost their measles elimination status, meaning the virus has been circulating continuously in these countries for more than 12 months. To stem measles, at least 95% of children should be fully vaccinated against the disease, according to health recommendations, but vaccination rates are falling across Europe.

Measles vaccination in the UK has fallen particularly dramatically, with only 84% of five-year-olds having received the recommended two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in 2024. The UK is also “ground zero” for vaccine hesitancy, according to Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Brown University Pandemic Center. Andrew Wakefield, a former doctor, was living in the United Kingdom when he linked the MMR vaccine to autism in a 1998 Lancet study that has since been retracted. He subsequently lost his medical qualifications. This is the second time the UK has lost its measles elimination status in less than a decade.

Although it has been more than 15 years since Wakefield’s study was retracted, the idea that vaccines and autism are linked is gaining ground around the world, with the help of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health.

“The rhetoric that happens in the United States spreads across borders and into other countries,” Nuzzo said. “We live in a global ecosystem, so when they hear, well, [the vaccine is] It’s not good enough for the Americans, but it might not be good for us either.”

Kennedy is known for his work with the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, which continues to promote Wakefield’s debunked arguments about vaccines and autism.

Organizations like Children’s Health Defense and the influencers who promote their rhetoric often present themselves as activists, but Nuzzo is quick to point out that there is a profit-driven industry behind their work. A report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that the “anti-Vaxx industry” brings in at least $36 million a year. Before becoming Secretary of Health, in 2024, Kennedy himself received millions of dollars in combined income from Children’s Health Defense and various law firms that go after vaccine manufacturers.

Under Kennedy’s leadership, the United States is now on the verge of losing its measles elimination status. Measles often spreads through international transmission, and the two countries bordering the United States, Canada and Mexico, have also seen an increase in measles outbreaks. Canada lost its elimination status in November last year, and Mexico’s status is also under threat.

Perhaps the strongest global signal sent by the Trump administration regarding the deprioritization of measles was its decision to withdraw funding from the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network (GMRLNN), which the World Health Organization coordinates.

Dr. Alonzo Plow, who has held public health leadership positions in Seattle, Boston and Los Angeles County and is currently chief scientific officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said breakthrough measles cases often start with two things: international travel and an unvaccinated child. In the past, GMRLN has helped detect measles outbreaks globally to contain travel-related transmission. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has funded GMRLN since its inception, but the Trump administration’s budget cuts mean the network of nearly 800 international labs is struggling to keep the lights on, and surveillance could collapse just as measles cases continue to rise.

“Viruses know no borders,” Plow said. International coordination is therefore particularly important when it comes to preventing the spread of hyper-contagious viruses such as measles. In the past, Plow has explained that there was a “protection network” built on “close partnerships with the CDC” and international surveillance networks like the GMRLN and the Pan American Health Organization.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to specific questions about Kennedy’s vaccine stance or the status of GMRLN, but a spokesperson said: “HHS is working with the White House in an interagency deliberative process on the path forward for global health and foreign assistance that protects Americans first and foremost.” »

It is unclear whether the GMRLN continues to operate at full capacity. A WHO spokesperson said: “Without funding for the GMRLN, there is no global network. The high-quality laboratory surveillance provided by the GMRLN will be seriously compromised, if not completely lost, putting Member States at very high risk of failing to timely detect and contain outbreaks,” but did not respond to specific questions about whether some laboratories have already closed or reduced capacity.

Nuzzo said the U.S. government’s continued participation in the Pan American Health Organization, which coordinates GMRLN laboratories in the Americas, implies that the United States may contribute to international surveillance efforts more than public rhetoric suggests. However, even by failing to publicly declare measles a global health priority, the United States could have a “chilling effect” on how other countries approach the spread of the virus, according to Nuzzo.

Around the world, Nuzzo worries that we have entered an era where people’s fears about measles have lessened, where people think, “I’ll just catch it naturally.” »

“Look, it’s a bad disease. You don’t want to get this disease, okay?” Nuzzo said, explaining that for those who survive the infection, “it causes long-term health effects. It’s thought to bleed your immune system, making you more vulnerable to disease… your immune system forgets how to fight the infection.”

Nuzzo said she fears the United States’ “biggest exports” are “lies” about measles vaccines that make the entire world more vulnerable.