May 2, 2019

Measles Cases Are at a 25-Year High. What Do You Want to Know About the Outbreak?

We’re taking your questions on vaccines, immunity, and the disease itself.

A nurse vaccinates a child for measles and mumps.Artyom Geodakyan/TASS/Getty

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On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 704 cases of measles have been confirmed in the US as of late April, marking the highest number of cases since 1994. The majority of cases—a little over 500—occurred in people who were unvaccinated. At least 22 states have reported cases of measles, with outbreaks in close-knit communities accounting for 88 percent of cases. 

In New York, CDC officials blamed anti-vaccination groups for spreading misinformation about vaccines, especially among the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. “Sadly, these communities are being targeted with inaccurate and misleading information about vaccines,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. 

While some outbreaks have subsided, CDC officials said they expect to see additional cases before the end of the year. At a CDC press call on Monday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar urged parents to vaccinate their children. “Vaccine-preventable diseases belong in the history books, not in our emergency room,” said Azar. “Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way to protect our loved ones and neighbors from the scourge of measles, and the suffering we are seeing today is completely avoidable.” 

As we continue reporting on this issue, we want to hear from you: What do you want to know about measles, vaccines, immunity, and the current outbreak? Let us know in the form below, send an email to talk@motherjones.com, or leave us a voicemail at (510) 519-MOJO. 

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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