California’s Measles Resurgence Exposes Dangerous Gaps in Public Health and Vaccine Policy

When measles strikes in California, it sets off an urgent race against time. Public health workers scramble to trace contacts, enforce quarantines, and prevent further spread of one of the most contagious diseases known to man. Yet despite a state vaccination rate near the herd immunity threshold, clusters of unvaccinated individuals are igniting outbreaks with frightening speed.Measles can infect nine out of ten unvaccinated people exposed—and its airborne viral particles linger for hours after exposure. This makes fast action essential. But California’s public health infrastructure is stretched perilously thin after years of federal funding slashes under successive administrations. How can...