A worsening measles outbreak in West Texas has spread to two other states, providing Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. his first real test of responding to a major public health incident.

The measles outbreak, which has killed two people to date and sickened nearly 260 across three states, represents the first time Kennedy has had to reckon with his past as a longtime critic of vaccines and his new leadership of the federal health establishment.

Public health experts and advocates don't think he is passing.

The response has been “as expected for a Secretary Kennedy HHS. But that's not saying much,” said Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist who has been tracking the outbreak in her Your Local Epidemiologist newsletter.

Kennedy has made two appearances on Fox News in recent weeks, where he downplayed the seriousness of measles and touted fringe theories about prevention and treatment, like the

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