
CDC redeploys to Texas measles outbreak after layoffs, as RFK Jr. calls vaccine "most effective way" to stop spread
CBSN
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun redeploying staff to respond to the deadly outbreak of measles in Texas, a spokesperson said Monday, a week after steep layoffs at the agency impacted its response to the spread of the virus.
"A team of three deployed yesterday to meet with county and state officials to assess the immediate needs to respond to this outbreak. The team is meeting with officials again today," CDC spokesperson Jason McDonald said in an email.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. first said Sunday that the CDC would be redeploying to Texas at its governor's request, after another unvaccinated child died in the measles outbreak. An 8-year-old girl was the second fatality there this year.

All of the full-time employees in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vessel Sanitation Program are now off the job, multiple officials tell CBS News, gutting the agency's ability to investigate outbreaks and conduct health inspections on cruise ships. A smaller group of 12 U.S. Public Health Service officers will remain.