The Truth About … the Misinformation Fueling the Measles Outbreak

“We need higher visibility as scientists. … We’re struggling over major revisions of papers and submitting grants and scientific meetings, and we’re basically invisible by that. And part of it is also the fault of our university leaders, especially at academic health centers, who are so worried about protecting the brand of the institution that they really don’t want their scientists and docs speaking out. That creates a vacuum. So we’re invisible, and that allows the bad actors to then portray us as cartoon villains or doing nefarious things in white coats and making viruses.” — Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D.

About the Episode

Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, meaning it was stopped from spreading freely. But that’s no longer the case. By April 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reported more than 480 cases nationwide and one death in 2025.

Meanwhile, misinformation about the severity of the virus and the development, efficacy, and side effects of vaccines is widespread across various platforms, contributing to declining vaccination rates in the U.S. The result: a rapidly spreading measles outbreak and a threat to the public health gains achieved through decades of vaccination.

So how exactly did we get here, and what do we do now?

Dr. Peter J. Hotez, a Baker Institute fellow, vaccine scientist, physician, and public health advocate, joined Director David M. Satterfield to discuss the causes and consequences of the West Texas outbreak at a March 26 Baker Institute event. Their conversation has been condensed for this episode of “Baker Briefing.” (Video of the full conversation is available here.)

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Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available here. This transcript was AI-generated and has not been through editorial review.

About ‘Baker Briefing’

Hosted by David M. Satterfield,  the “Baker Briefing” podcast delivers timely analysis on breaking policy developments and other critical policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute. New episodes are released weekly.

Select episodes of “Baker Briefing” are recorded in front of a live audience at Rice University in Houston, Texas. These recordings are free and open to the public. To learn about upcoming recordings and other public programming from the Baker Institute, subscribe to our “Events Digest” newsletter, delivered weekly.

This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.