MAGAts and antivaxxers are responsible for this. From Kentucky Lantern:

Louisville has confirmed a second case of the highly contagious measles, bringing the total cases in Kentucky to 14. 

Dr. Kris Bryant, the associate medical director at the Louisville health department and a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Norton Children’s Hospital, said the latest patient is “a known contact” with the city’s first case of 2025, which was reported in mid July. 

“This individual has been in quarantine since becoming aware of their exposure, and so there are no new public exposures as a result of this case,” Bryant said during a Tuesday press conference. 

The city’s latest case, which health officials confirmed Monday, is unrelated to an outbreak in central Kentucky, she said. An outbreak is defined as three or more related cases. 

Of the 14 cases across Kentucky, 13 were in unvaccinated individuals and one was in a person who only received part of the recommended vaccine series, Bryant said. 

I will never understand the antivax crowd.

This is what happened before the measles vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control (which might remove this information from its site, given the stupidity of the secretary of health):

In 1912, measles became a nationally notifiable disease in the United States, requiring U.S. healthcare providers and laboratories to report all diagnosed cases. In the first decade of reporting, an average of 6,000 measles-related deaths were reported each year.

A vaccine became available in 1963. In the decade before, nearly all children got measles by the time they were 15 years old. It is estimated 3 to 4 million people in the United States were infected each year. Among reported measles cases each year, an estimated:

• 400 to 500 people died
• 48,000 were hospitalized
• 1,000 suffered encephalitis (swelling of the brain)

But here’s the kicker:

Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. This meant the absence of the continuous spread of disease was greater than 12 months. This was thanks to a highly effective vaccination program in the United States, as well as better measles control in the Americas region.

The antivax MAGAt mentality even occupied the Kentucky governor’s office less than a decade ago. Remember this in 2019?

Kentucky governor Matt Bevin says he deliberately exposed his children to chickenpox so they would catch the highly contagious disease and become immune.

During a Tuesday interview on Bowling Green radio station WKCT, Bevin said his children were “miserable for a few days” after contracting chickenpox but said “they all turned out fine”.

Bevin and his wife, Glenna, have nine children, four adopted.

The Republican leader said parents worried about chickenpox should have their children vaccinated. But he said government shouldn’t mandate the vaccination.

Kentucky requires that children entering kindergarten be vaccinated for chickenpox, but parents may seek religious exemptions or provide proof that a child already had the disease.

Well, what could have gone wrong? Let’s go back to the CDC:

Chickenpox may cause several complications, such as:

• Bacterial infections of the skin and soft tissues in children, including Group A streptococcal infections
• Infection of the lungs (pneumonia)
• Infection or swelling of the brain (encephalitis, cerebellar ataxia)
• Bleeding problems (hemorrhagic complications)
• Bloodstream infections (sepsis)
• Dehydration

Some people experience complications from chickenpox and become so sick that they require hospitalization. In the most dangerous cases, chickenpox may lead to death. However, hospitalizations and deaths are rare today due to the U.S. chickenpox vaccination program.

This total acquiescence to antivax stupidity is emblematic of a nation in decline. Let’s look at one scientist’s view of how things used to be: