Let's talk about the Trump administration sending CDC to South Carolina.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about the Trump administration sending CDC to South Carolina.

It's been about 5 months since the measles outbreak in South Carolina began. It's got about a thousand cases, making it the largest outbreak in more than 30 years. According to the CDC, there have been three years since 1992 where the entire country had a thousand cases or more. This year, last year, and 2019. I wonder if those years have anything in common. I'm sure that's just a coincidence.

So, the Trump administration's CDC has finally decided to act. Last week, some CDC Foundation public health experts went to help with the day-to-day tasks associated with dealing with a massive measles outbreak and trying to contain it. The CDC Foundation is a nonprofit created by Congress.

But now CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service has sent three of their people to South Carolina. These are people commonly called disease detectives. They'll be analyzing data and really digging into the specifics of the outbreak in hopes of coming up with a method of containment and they should be there for a couple of weeks. The disease detectives will come up with all sorts of useful information and data. They'll probably have some really good recommendations and at the very least they'll be able to kind of chart a course.

Not to get too far ahead of the story, but there's a pretty important piece of data that is well known and has definitely shown itself here. Vaccines work. According to the CDC numbers for 2026, only 4% of those infected this year had both doses of their MMR vaccine. About 4% had a single dose, and roughly 92% of those infected were unvaccinated or unknown.

Measles is one of the most, if not the most, contagious disease on the planet. It can survive in the air for 2 hours after the infected person has left the area. Surfaces can stay contaminated for roughly the same period. N95 masks can help. Handwashing, not standing too close to other people, and so on. Yes, all the same things we were told during COVID that some people were convinced was some kind of plot to take away their freedom. It's pretty standard advice for infectious disease.

But beyond that, talk to your provider about getting your shots if you're unvaccinated. On this front, South Carolina's state epidemiologist Linda Bell gave us a little positive news during a briefing when she said, "We saw another strong increase in measles vaccination uptake during the month of February, which is encouraging compared to February of 2025. There was a 133% increase in measles vaccination in Spartanburg County with around 900 additional doses given.”

133% increase--that is definitely making headway. It would be great if we had an administration that worked to mitigate and stop the spread of infectious diseases early on. It would also be helpful if the administration didn't appoint people to public health positions that undermine basic public health protocols.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.