Jennifer Nuzzo

“I worry that by framing it around their demographics, it lets governments off the hook in terms of what they’re supposed to be doing, which is stopping the spread of this dangerous disease,”

Jennifer Nuzzo · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-22

Nuzzo warned that framing measles spread around demographics lets governments off the hook for stopping the disease.

“It’s easy to kind of point to other countries and say that they’re the problem, but the reality is we’re all dependent on each other, and it’s very hard to protect ourselves when measles is spreading elsewhere.”

Jennifer Nuzzo · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-22

Nuzzo emphasized that countries are mutually dependent and cannot protect themselves when measles spreads elsewhere.

“You can’t just show up in a community in an emergency– an emergency in which they might feel like you’re there to kind of blame them or shame them,”

Jennifer Nuzzo · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-22

Nuzzo told Al Jazeera that public health officials must build relationships with communities before emergencies arise.

“It’s like this perpetual game of Whac-A-Mole. As long as there are vulnerable communities, as long as we don’t have strategies for early detection and rapid response and containment, measles will just keep on happening over and over and over again.”

Jennifer Nuzzo · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-22

Nuzzo compared measles outbreaks to a game of Whac-A-Mole, saying the disease will keep recurring without proper strategies.

“The spread of measles in the United States imperils other countries,”

Jennifer Nuzzo · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-22

Nuzzo said the spread of measles in the United States poses risks to other countries.

“You need to know them so that they see public health as a resource rather than law enforcement.”

Jennifer Nuzzo · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-22

Nuzzo said communities need to see public health as a resource rather than law enforcement.

“We have not seen it this bad,”

Jennifer Nuzzo · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-22

Nuzzo said repeated outbreaks across the US indicate a country struggling to contain measles transmission.