Tenpenny Throwback Thursday
Remember the Disney measles outbreak from 10 years ago? Same playbook today.
On December 28, 2014, an 11-year-old child was hospitalized with a rash onset and suspected measles case. By January 5, the hospital notified the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) about a single confirmed case. The same day, CDPH was notified about four additional suspected measles cases. By January 7, a whopping seven measles cases had been confirmed, enough of a “pandemic” for CDPH to have a press conference. Now there were two cases in Utah. CDPH put all states on alert.
The 11-year-old had traveled to Disney December 17-20. The theme park quickly became the epicenter, and the child quickly became patient zero. By mid-February, 125 measles cases were confirmed in the US (with 110 from California). The remaining 15 cases were in seven other states: Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, and Washington State, as well as one case in Mexico and 10 in Canada. About 35% of the people had visited the two theme parks that the child had visited. About one-third of the 125 cases could not be traced to Disney (e.g. unknown exposure source.) About one-third were secondary exposure. Of the 110 California cases, about half were unvaccinated while the other half had unknown or undocumented vax status. Twelve of the cases were infants too young to be vaccinated. Only 18 cases were children under age 18, and the average age for the cases was 22.
Here is the interesting part: they made the 11-year-old child “patient zero” but then the CDC website itself says that the source of the initial Disney theme park exposure could no be identified. Annual attendance at Disney theme parks in California is estimated at 24 million.
And just like that, by April, the outbreak was over, thanks to the tireless efforts of public health officials. What exactly did they do?
“Having this measles outbreak behind us is a significant accomplishment!!”
They patted themselves on the back for tracking down “thousands” of people who might have been exposed, and of course for isolating cases. This may be my favorite sentence: “It’s a lot of work, and it’s very expensive,” said an infectious disease specialist at the who had no role in the measles investigation.
Was anyone else hospitalized? Did anyone die? We don’t know. But here is what we do know. Here’s what they focused on, and it is an identical playbook to what we see today. Just fill in the blank regarding the cause of the “outbreak”:
(1) There is always a somewhat nebulous patient zero.
(2) When it comes right down to it, they can’t pinpoint the source: “Authorities said they may never know who sparked the Disneyland outbreak but believe it was someone who caught the virus overseas and visited the theme park while contagious.”
(3) There is fear-mongering, like this sentence: “Measles has been eliminated in the U.S. for more than a decade, but outbreaks still occur when travelers become infected abroad and spread the virus among unvaccinated populations.” At the time, they let Americans know that an outbreak (159 cases) was raging in Quebec, Canada in a “tight-knit religious community with a low vaccination rate.” The message? Fear foreigners. You’re never safe. Don’t be unvaccinated—ever! And those religious crazies need to get jabbed!
(4) There is shaming of the unvaxxed: “Many who fell ill were not immunized against measles, citing personal reasons for refusing shots.” How dare you have a personal reason, especially a religious one! Jab yourself for the greater good!
(5) Planting the seed to vaccinate EVERYONE: “others were too young to get the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine”. Translation: we need to vaccinate infants and newborns.
When you look back at the news reports, the Disney outbreak just ended all by itself in April. Here’s something else that ended as well: religious exemptions in the state of California.
The Disneyland debacle prompted state lawmakers to introduce a bill that would bar parents from seeking vaccine exemptions for their children because of personal beliefs. I know people who left the state because of it.
The real goal? Containing measles—sure. But removing religious exemptions was always in the crosshairs.
That they removed religious exemptions in 2014 is horrible. Is that why Cali residents had such a tough time later with Covid restrictions? I had three different kinds of measles and (I think) I am ok!🤓Every night I pray for my fellow conservatives 🙏
Quite the contradiction-- the main purpose of "public" health is to create public fear. Fear of disease is worse than most diseases. "Public" health is also a great money maker for the well connected. Thank goodness for the CDC and FDA, because of their dedication will get to live in fear and poorer.