The measles outbreak in Texas, part of the second-worst in U.S. history, is exacerbated by a reduction in pandemic-related funding. CDC's senior scientist David Sugerman noted that funding cuts have severely limited states’ abilities to manage infectious diseases, with Texas accounting for 561 out of over 700 U.S. cases. He emphasized the challenges local health departments face amidst these funding pulls, which have forced Texas to reallocate its health staff and the CDC to stretch resources thin to support the state. The outbreak's genetic linkage to cases in Canada and Mexico highlights the interconnectedness of public health issues across borders.
"There are funding limitations in light of COVID-19 funding dissipating," Sugerman said, referring to $11.4 billion in coronavirus-related funds that the Department of Health and Human Services ordered pulled back from state and local health departments and community organizations late last month.
"Texas is pulling resources and staff from other parts of its health department to respond to the outbreak," he said. The CDC is now 'scraping to find the resources and personnel needed to provide support to Texas and other jurisdictions.'
"There are quite a number of resource requests coming in, in particular from Texas," said David Sugerman, a senior CDC scientist, during a meeting of the CDC's vaccine advisory panel.
Genetic sequencing suggests that the southwest outbreak is also linked to outbreaks in Canada and Mexico, Sugerman said.
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