Kennedy says he plans to reinstate some personnel and programs severed in massive HHS layoffs | CNN Some personnel and programs affected by sweeping reductions at federal health agencies on Tuesday will be reinstated, including a program at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that monitors lead in kids, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday. Brenda Goodman, Meg Tirrell CNN

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Measles outbreak in Texas hits 481 cases, with 59 new infections confirmed in last 3 days The measles outbreak in western Texas has hit 481 cases as 59 newly identified infections were confirmed over the last three days, according to new data published Friday. ABC News ABC News

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Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).

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Measles vaccination rates for young children may be far lower than publicly reported, a troubling development that could mean the United States is closer than expected to losing its “elimination status” for the extremely contagious disease.

“We are experiencing an extremely concerning decline in measles vaccination in the very group most vulnerable to the disease,” said Benjamin Rader, a computational epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and the author of a recent study that looked at children’s vaccination rates.