Opinion: Canada's lost measles status points to a U.S. loss, which the author blames on anti-vaccine influence

On Nov. 10, 2025, the Pan American Health Organization revoked Canada's status as a country that has eliminated measles. The outbreak that triggered the decision began in October 2024 and has produced more than 5,000 reported cases. Canada had held the status for roughly 25 years.

An opinion piece published by Livescience.com argues that the United States will probably be next. The author, writing alongside colleagues at the advocacy group Defend Public Health, places the blame on the anti-vaccination movement and on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now leads the Department of Health and Human Services. This is an argument, not a neutral finding, and the figures below are the author's account of the record.

The piece begins with the disease itself. Measles, the author writes, is the most contagious illness known to science: put 10 unvaccinated people in a room with an active case and nine will be infected. In the U.S. in 2025, more than 1,700 cases have been reported, and 12% of those patients were hospitalized. Among children under 5 the rate was 22%. Three people have died in the U.S. and two in Canada.

The author lists the complications: pneumonia, encephalitis, deafness, and, rarely, a fatal neurological disorder called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. The piece also cites what it calls immune amnesia, in which the virus erases the body's immune memory of other pathogens and leaves a person vulnerable to illnesses they were once protected against.

The author treats measles as a bellwether, an early warning that other vaccine-preventable diseases may follow as vaccination rates fall. The cause, in this telling, is the growth of the anti-vaccine movement since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by misinformation on social media and podcasts that eroded trust in scientists and vaccines.

Kennedy is the central figure. The author notes that Senate Republicans confirmed him despite objections from tens of thousands of scientists, health care providers and public health practitioners. He formerly chaired Children's Health Defense, which the piece says regularly promotes vaccine misinformation. The author also lists claims attributed to him: that COVID-19 is a bioweapon engineered to attack Caucasians and Black people while sparing Ashkenazi Jews, that WiFi causes brain cancer, and that drug use, not HIV, causes AIDS.

As secretary, the author says, Kennedy replaced the members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with several people tied to the anti-vaccine movement, and funding for mRNA vaccine research has been cut. The piece also points to Florida's removal of state vaccine requirements for school entry as an example of the risk. It adds a national security argument: a 2023 Department of Defense report identified COVID-19 vaccine misinformation as a threat to military readiness.

The prescription is direct. Kennedy should be removed from office, the author writes, and social and legacy media should curb misinformation, though the piece concedes they have little financial incentive because sensational health claims drive engagement. Citing Gregg Gonsalves in The Nation, the author calls for a broad movement to defend public health, including watching state-level efforts to weaken vaccine rules. The author reads the November 2025 elections as a sign that voters are already pushing back.

What to watch: whether the U.S. formally loses its elimination status, and whether HHS vaccine policy, the makeup of the immunization advisory committee, and state school requirements change further.