‘RFK Jr. Lied to Congress’: Criminal Probe Sought Over Samoa Trip Linked to 83 Measles Deaths

“He told us his Samoa trip had nothing to do with vaccines—now this letter shows that was false,” Sen. Ed Markey said of President Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary.


US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before the US Senate during his confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on January 30, 2025.
(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Aug 27, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday faced calls for a criminal investigation after newly published documents appear to contradict his repeated testimony during Senate confirmation hearings that his 2019 trip to Samoa, which is linked to 83 measles deaths, “had nothing to do with vaccines.”

The advocacy group American Oversight on Thursday asked the US Department of Justice to investigate whether Kennedy knowingly made materially false statements during his 2025 Senate confirmation hearings. The request follows the publication of a January 2019 letter, signed by Kennedy and addressed to Samoa’s then-prime minister, Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi, that explicitly proposed a vaccine-focused assessment of the Pacific island nation’s measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) program.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeatedly testified before two separate Senate committees that his trip to Samoa had nothing to do with vaccines. But a letter he wrote to Samoa’s prime minister six years earlier appears to contradict that testimony,” American Oversight executive director Chioma Chukwu said Thursday in a statement.

“Congress relies on truthful testimony to do its job, particularly on matters as consequential as public health,” Chukwu added. “If Kennedy lied to the Senate while seeking confirmation as the nation’s top health official, the Justice Department must investigate and hold him accountable.”

Questioned by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) before the Senate Finance Committee, Kennedy said his trip had “nothing to do with vaccines,” describing it instead as an effort to introduce a medical informatics system to digitize the nation’s health records.

The following day, when Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) pressed him on the same issue before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Kennedy again said his trip had “nothing to do with vaccines.”

Markey’s office released a statement Thursday noting that Kennedy “traveled to Samoa in 2019 to promote disinformation about the measles vaccine. Shortly after his trip, Samoa experienced a deadly outbreak of measles that killed over 80 people and has been attributed to mass vaccine disinformation.”



Of the 83 measles deaths during the outbreak, 72 were children under the age of 5. More than 1,860 hospitalizations in Samoa have been linked to the outbreak.

“New documents confirm what we already knew: RFK Jr. lied to Congress,” Markey said. “He told us his Samoa trip had nothing to do with vaccines—now this letter shows that was false, just like it was false when he denied his role in the deadly outbreak that followed.”

“This is a pattern, not a slip,” he added. “RFK Jr. has lied to the Senate, lied to the American people, and jeopardized the health of children to advance his anti-vaccine agenda. He should never have been confirmed, and he cannot be trusted to run [the US Department of Health and Human Services] for even one more day.”

Democratic Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, who is a physician, was invited by the Samoan government to help lead the measles response and recovery in the South Pacific archipelago.

“Misinformation and measles are a deadly combination—I saw that firsthand in Samoa,” Green said on Thursday. “The truth is, this is a disease we know how to prevent. The MMR shot is the only proven and effective way to prevent the spread of measles.”

“Vaccines save lives,” he added. “Our public health decisions must be guided by doctors, scientists, and evidence—not conspiracy theories or political convenience. We owe it to every family to protect our children and communities, and make sure no one else dies from a preventable disease.”

The group 314 Action, which recruits, trains, and works to elect Democrats with expertise in science, published a statement Thursday noting that “now, America is facing its worst measles crisis in decades, and two more Americans have lost their lives to a disease we have long known how to prevent.”

Public health experts have warned that the US is on track to lose its measles elimination status, which the country achieved in 2000, and blame the regression on declining vaccination driven by misinformation and conspiracy theories, including that vaccines are dangerous and even deadly.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order overhauling federal recommendations for children that calls for separating the MMR vaccine into three individual shots.

“The only thing ‘lethal’ about vaccines is listening to RFK Jr.'s lies about them,” said 314 Action. “America needs more leaders like Gov. Green who are willing to stand up to Trump and RFK Jr. and put public health over politics. We won’t stop fighting until RFK Jr. is fired or removed from office.”

 

RS virus admissions among infants fall sharply following vaccine rollout

A new study from the University of Copenhagen and Nordsjællands Hospital suggests that Denmark's new RSV vaccination programme for pregnant women may have dramatically reduced the number of infants hospitalised with the virus.

University of Copenhagen

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Thousands of infants contract respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) every year. While most experience mild symptoms, the virus can cause severe breathing difficulties in newborns and young infants and may require hospital treatment. Since autumn 2025, pregnant women in Denmark have been offered an RSV vaccine to help protect their babies during the first months of life. New findings from the University of Copenhagen and Nordsjaellands Hospital now point to a substantial reduction in hospital admissions among the youngest children.

During the 2025/26 RSV season, the number of hospital admissions among infants aged 0 to 5 months fell by 75 per cent compared with the average of the previous three seasons. While admissions averaged 1,128 in those years, only 296 infants were admitted between October and April in the most recent season.

"That’s more than 800 infants who avoided hospital admission over the winter. For these very young children, RSV can be particularly serious and may cause severe breathing difficulties. It is a major strain on both children and their families, so this is a remarkable development," says Thea Kølsen Fischer, Clinical Professor at the Department of Public Health and co-author of the study.

Findings mirror international experience

The researchers emphasise that the study cannot establish a direct causal link between vaccination and the decline in admissions. Changes in transmission patterns, testing activity and other factors may also have influenced the trend.

Even so, the findings are consistent with experiences from countries including Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, France and England, all of which have introduced RSV vaccination programmes.

"I work in a hospital every day, and colleagues from paediatric departments across the country tell me that the RSV season often place enormous pressure on their services. This year, they have not seen the usual surge in admissions," says Thea Kølsen Fischer.

Infants are particularly vulnerable

RSV can cause inflammation and mucus build-up in the smallest airways of the lungs. It is one of the most common causes of respiratory infection during the winter months and affects both children and adults. For most people, symptoms are mild.

Infants and babies born prematurely are particularly vulnerable because their airways are small and their immune systems are still developing. As a result, inflammation and mucus can quickly lead to serious breathing problems.

RSV follows a clear seasonal pattern in Denmark, with most hospital admissions occurring between October and March. For that reason, the vaccine is offered to women due to give birth during or shortly before this period. In the first season, 72 per cent of eligible pregnant women accepted the offer of vaccination.

"It is encouraging that so many women chose to be vaccinated in the first season," says Thea Kølsen Fischer.

Thea Kølsen Fischer has studied RSV for many years, including before the first vaccines were approved in 2023. For her, the results reflect the impact of a long period of research. The findings were equally welcome for Caroline Klint Johannesen, a PhD student at Nordsjaellands Hospital and first author of the study.

"It is incredibly rewarding to see that what we have been researching does not simply work on paper, but can make a real difference in practice," she says.

Bringing the virus under control

Despite the sharp decline in admissions, RSV is unlikely ever to disappear completely because it is both widespread and highly infectious. However, researchers believe it may be possible to reduce the burden of severe disease to a much lower level than in previous years.

"I expect at least as many people to accept the vaccine next season, both because of these early results and because it is a very safe vaccine with very few side effects," says Thea Kølsen Fischer.

Older adults at increased risk, including people over 60 with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), can also receive financial support for vaccination. Thea Kølsen Fischer expects this to have a longer-term impact on the burden of disease.

"If fewer older people become seriously ill, I believe we will move much closer to controlling a virus that has traditionally caused a large number of sick days and hospital admissions," she says.

 

About the study

• The study is based on surveillance data from the Statens Serum Institut, combining hospital stays of more than 12 hours with a positive RSV test
• It includes children aged 0 to 5 months
• There were 296 RSV-related admissions among infants between 1 October 2025 and 29 April 2026
• The average number of admissions during the previous three seasons was 1,128

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Journal

The Lancet Regional Health - Europe

DOI

10.1016/j.lanepe.2026.101750 

Article Title

Early impact of RSV prevention on infant hospitalisations in Denmark

Article Publication Date

22-Jun-2026

COI Statement

CKJ had no conflicts of interest to declare. AMEC declare support from the Independent Research Fund Denmark outside of this work. SL had no conflicts of interest to declare. ZBH received research grants from Greater Copenhagen Health Science Partners (CAG VAX - Clinical Academic Group Translational Vaccine Research in High-Risk Adults), Independent Research Fund Denmark (Inge Lehmanns grant number 3162-00031B), Helen Rudes Foundation, the Danish Cancer Society (Grant number KBVU-MS R327-A19137), Novo Nordisk Foundation (grant nr. NNF24SA0090556), and the Danish National Research Foundation (grant number DNRF170), all out of this work. ZBH is an ID consultant at Statens Serum Institut, pneumococcal laboratory. ZBH functions as Chair, Vaccine Study Group (EVASG), European Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) and is a member of the Danish Vaccination Council (NITAG). TKF declared consultant fees from a consultant company, grants or contracts from Pfizer, payment for lectures, support for meetings and/or travel from Pfizer and GSK. All payments from GSK and Pfizer were made to a consultant company.

 

Wastewater may offer an early warning of pertussis outbreaks

Researchers in Osaka found that pertussis-associated DNA in wastewater rose weeks before reported cases, pointing to a new way to complement clinical surveillance

The University of Osaka

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Wastewater pertussis-associated IS481 DNA and reported pertussis cases in Osaka Prefecture. The wastewater signal preceded the increase in reported cases by approximately several months.

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Credit: 2026, Koichiro Suzuki et al., Early Detection of Pertussis Related Activity by Wastewater Surveillance of Bordetella pertussis- and Bordetella parapertussis- Associated DNA Concentrations in Osaka, Japan, Emerging Microbes & Infections

Osaka, Japan – Pertussis, or whooping cough, continues to cause periodic outbreaks worldwide and can be especially dangerous for infants who have not completed vaccination. Yet conventional surveillance depends on people seeking medical care, being tested, diagnosed, and reported, which can delay recognition of changes in community transmission.

Researchers at the University of Osaka and the Osaka Institute of Public Health have now shown that wastewater surveillance may provide an earlier signal. By monitoring sewage across Osaka Prefecture for more than two years, the team found that increases in pertussis-associated DNA appeared before increases in reported cases.

From April 2023 to July 2025, wastewater was collected weekly from four treatment plants and analyzed for DNA markers associated with Bordetella pertussis, the bacterium that causes pertussis, and Bordetella parapertussis. The concentration of the B. pertussis-associated marker IS481 began increasing in 2024 and showed a temporal pattern similar to reported pertussis cases.

In the main cross-correlation analysis, the wastewater signal preceded reported cases by 10 weeks. Other analyses showed lead times ranging from 4 to 16 weeks, consistently indicating that changes in wastewater appeared earlier.

Wastewater surveillance has an important advantage. It does not depend on whether infected people seek medical care or undergo testing. It may therefore capture broader community-level trends, including mild or asymptomatic infections that are not fully represented in clinical reports.

“By combining wastewater surveillance with clinical surveillance, we hope to detect changes in community transmission earlier,” says Dr. Daisuke Motooka of the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, the University of Osaka.

The findings suggest that wastewater monitoring could complement clinical surveillance and support earlier public health preparedness, including heightened clinical awareness, expanded testing, and infection-prevention measures. This could support a shift from a reactive to a proactive public health approach. By building a system that detects and responds to early signs of an outbreak, rather than acting only after it has begun, the researchers aim to help limit the spread of infection within communities.

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The article, “Early Detection of Pertussis Related Activity by Wastewater Surveillance of Bordetella pertussis- and Bordetella parapertussis- Associated DNA Concentrations in Osaka, Japan,” was published in Emerging Microbes & Infections at DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2026.2717860

 

About The University of Osaka

The University of Osaka was founded in 1931 as one of the seven imperial universities of Japan and is now one of Japan's leading comprehensive universities with a broad disciplinary spectrum. This strength is coupled with a singular drive for innovation that extends throughout the scientific process, from fundamental research to the creation of applied technology with positive economic impacts. Its commitment to innovation has been recognized in Japan and around the world. Now, The University of Osaka is leveraging its role as a Designated National University Corporation selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to contribute to innovation for human welfare, sustainable development of society, and social transformation.

Website: https://resou.osaka-u.ac.jp/en

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Journal

Emerging Microbes & Infections

DOI

10.1080/22221751.2026.2717860 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Early Detection of Pertussis Related Activity by Wastewater Surveillance of Bordetella pertussis- and Bordetella parapertussis- Associated DNA Concentrations in Osaka, Japan

Article Publication Date

21-Aug-2026

 

T cells are a powerful force against Zika virus

LJI scientists tested two Zika vaccines, both designed to work through antibodies. One protected through T cells instead—but only the vaccine that mustered both held off the virus for the long haul.

La Jolla Institute for Immunology

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La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) Professor Sujan Shresta, Ph.D., studies how the immune system targets Zika virus infection. Her lab has found that a vaccine approach could activate T cells to help protect the human body from severe Zika virus infection.

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Credit: La Jolla Institute for Immunology

LA JOLLA, CA—Zika virus has been spreading for decades, but it first grabbed worldwide headlines in 2016. That February, with an outbreak sweeping the Americas, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the surge in Zika-linked birth defects a “public health emergency of international concern”—a designation which lasted until that November. An estimated one million people or more were infected before the wave subsided.

Zika virus is carried by different species of Aedes mosquitoes. These mosquitoes had spread into new regions and found new victims. More people were getting sick, including pregnant women.

Doctors realized that the increased cases of microcephaly (significantly smaller brain and head development) in newborns across the Americas were caused by Zika virus infection. Women who contracted Zika virus during pregnancy were also much more likely to miscarry. Babies who survived could be born with eye and ear problems and joint issues, a pattern of birth defects doctors now group together as congenital Zika syndrome.

Today, at least 97 countries and territories have reported evidence of Zika virus transmission, according to the WHO. Reported cases have fallen sharply since 2017, but researchers expect the pool of susceptible people to rebuild over the coming decade, and a warming climate and the spread of insecticide-resistant Aedes mosquitoes keep widening the map of who is at risk. We still do not have any specific Zika virus treatments or vaccines.

Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) aim to change that by investigating how we can design vaccines that provide long-lasting, effective protection against severe Zika virus infection.

LJI Professor Sujan Shresta, Ph.D., recently published a study in Nature Microbiology showing that an experimental Zika virus vaccine can protect mice through T cells alone, without help from virus-fighting antibodies. The catch: on their own, those T cells do not keep the protection going.

This discovery is a critical step in the fight against Zika virus and its close viral relatives, including the life-threatening dengue virus. “The long-term goal of our lab is to develop a vaccine that provides long-term protection against all of these viruses,” says Shresta.

Why don’t we have Zika virus vaccines?

Most vaccines work by prompting the body to make antibodies, which bind to part of a pathogen—the outside of a virus, say—and neutralize it before it can cause infection. Antibodies and the B cells that produce them can then linger in the blood for years, lying in wait for their targets.

But in the case of Zika virus vaccines, antibodies pose a big problem. Zika belongs to a family of mosquito-borne viruses—the orthoflaviviruses—that also includes dengue and Japanese encephalitis virus, and these viruses overlap across much of the world. Zika and dengue are especially close cousins: the envelope proteins that coat them are so similar that antibodies raised against one routinely latch onto the other.

Shresta has studied a phenomenon called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). When antibodies bind a virus without disabling it—because they were raised against a relative, or because their levels have waned—they can end up ferrying the virus into immune cells instead of blocking it, driving a more severe infection. Because of ADE, a person who receives a vaccine that prompts the body to make antibodies against Zika virus could be vulnerable to a severe case of Zika or dengue infection later on.

The risk of ADE means vaccine researchers need to find innovative ways of protecting the body from orthoflaviviruses.

In past studies, Shresta uncovered the potential power of T cells in fighting orthoflaviviruses. T cells patrol the body for signs of disease and adapt over time to recognize specific threats, and vaccines can train them just as they train antibodies. Shresta has shown that T cells offer a chance to fight these viruses when you can’t depend on antibodies.

Vaccine yields surprising results

For the new study, Shresta worked with LJI Research Instructor Annie Elong Ngono, Ph.D., and Visiting Scientist Kantinan Chuensirikulchai, Ph.D., to compare two experimental Zika vaccines in mice bred to be susceptible to the virus. 

Like most Zika vaccine candidates, both were built around the virus’s outer coat proteins to elicit neutralizing antibodies. In one, those proteins were left as they occur in nature. In the other, the team mutated a small patch called the fusion loop, the very site that generates most of the cross-reactive antibodies behind ADE. The researchers wanted to know whether removing that liability would also change how T cells respond.

In their tests, the unmodified vaccine got the immune system to fight Zika virus infection with a double-whammy of antibodies and T cells. Transferring CD8+ T cells from those mice into unvaccinated animals cut Zika levels on its own—so T cells were pulling real weight even in the vaccine whose antibodies worked as intended.

The fusion-loop mutant vaccine came with an even bigger surprise. Its antibodies shared many features in cell cultures and test tubes as those from the unmodified vaccine, but they did not protect unvaccinated animals at all. Stripping out the CD8+ T cells, by contrast, wiped the protection away. “This vaccine wasn’t protecting via antibodies,” says Shresta. “It was protecting via T cells.”

“The protection came from CD8+ T cells, a type of immune cell that finds and destroys virus-infected cells,” adds Chuensirikulchai.

This protection was effective, but it didn’t last. Twelve weeks after the final dose, mice given the fusion-loop mutant vaccine were no better off than unvaccinated animals, while those given the unmodified vaccine were still protected. The lesson is a cautionary one: a change made to reduce ADE risk quietly cost the vaccine its staying power. 

Shresta and her colleagues are now investigating how to build up a “durable” army of T cells that can respond to Zika virus infection for years after vaccination. “We need innovative vaccines,” says Elong Ngono. “And now we know what to focus on.”

What’s next for life-saving vaccines?

This work doesn’t stop with a Zika virus vaccine, says Shresta. She has found that T cells have the power to “cross-react” and respond to several related viruses, such as Zika and dengue, at the same time.

The new study brings Shresta’s team closer to a “pan-orthoflavivirus vaccine” that could teach T cells to fight many of these viruses at once—an approach that would be worth a great deal in the many places where people meet more than one related virus.

As Chuensirikulchai explains, the new findings reinforce the idea that effective vaccines against orthoflaviviruses should prompt the body to make virus-specific and cross-reactive T cells in addition to antibodies that neutralize and avoid ADE.

“Our study highlights the importance of considering T cell-mediated immunity alongside neutralizing antibodies,” says Chuensirikulchai. “This concept may inspire new vaccine strategies for other orthoflaviviruses, particularly in situations where antibody responses alone are insufficient or may contribute to unwanted immune effects.”

Publication details:

Additional authors of the study, "A Zika Virus Vaccine with E Protein Fusion Loop Mutations Protects via CD8+ T Cells,” are Qin Hui Li, Hsueh-han Lu, Julia Timis, Manuel Montano, Luke Eder, Pradip Bhandari, Dawid Zyla, Maximilian Bunz, Henry Madany, Rubens Alves, Paolla Beatriz Almeida Pinto, Erin Maule, Michael Nguyen, Erica Ollmann Saphire, and Lakshmanane Premkumar.

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01AI153500, R01AI163188, R01AI180196, and U19AI181960) and the Prebys Foundation Research Heroes program.

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Journal

Nature Microbiology

DOI

10.1038/s41564-026-02465-6 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

A Zika virus vaccine with E protein fusion loop mutations protects via CD8+ T cells

Article Publication Date

26-Aug-2026

Empathy and the Polity: Jacina Ardern’s Tenure as Prime Minister of New Zealand

Seth Sandronsky

 August 21, 2026

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Jacinda Ardern. Still from Prime Minister. (Netflix)

As the first woman prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern steered her nation through some rough waters, from a murderous anti-Muslim slaughter of innocents to the Covid-19 tumult and backlash against government policies to halt the pandemic’s spread. “Prime Minister” is a documentary that chronicles Ardern’s five years as New Zealand’s prime minister as a member of the Labour Party, highlighting her tenderness and toughness.  The two characteristics are not mutually exclusive, in my view. 

 

This documentary, that Ardern’s stalwart partner, Clarke, in part filmed, follows her road to the highest political office in New Zealand, and life after that. My takeaway from her comments on growing up in a place and time of deindustrialization, is straightforward. She sees what that destructive process of capital flight does to families.

 

Ardern’s working class sensibilities also shine through in her support of the families of coal miners killed in the Pike River coal mine explosion. A cameo appearance of Ardern in the “Pike River” feature film demonstrates her understanding of the centrality of labor to the common good. The film tells the story of Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse’s 15-year battle for corporate accountability, in and out of the courtroom and court of public opinion, seeking justice for 29 dead miners, including the two protagonist’s husband and son. 

 

From the childhood experience of watching capital abandon labor flows Ardern’s sense of empathy to others.  Specifically, she looks out for the victims of the system who it exploits mercilessly under the coercive laws of capitalist competition and the resulting social dysfunction, e.g., impulsive, reckless and self-destructive behaviors. As prime minister, Ardern prioritizes reducing childhood poverty and addressing the overall affordability struggles of the poor and working class. 

 

Ardern entered my consciousness after the heinous act of an Australian gunman killing 51 people, Muslims and immigrants, during Friday prayer services at two locations in Christchurch, NZ. Her empathy to the families of the victims told me to keep watching this politician. The gun laws that Ardern shepherded through Parliament in the wake of the terrorist shooting should serve as a wakeup call for U.S. politicians, who will pray for the victims of gun violence but fail to stand up to the Gun Lobby and enact sane laws to end the daily carnage from firearms.  

 

Ardern helms New Zealand during the pandemic, and it takes a terrible toll on her, rearing Neve, a daughter of the union with Clarke. As the lethal virus mutates, measures to slow and stop the spread combined with anti-vaccination disinformation create a toxic brew of opposition that to my eyes as an American looks a lot like the Make America Great Again rearguard of President Trump’s supporters. However, the documentary sidestepped the impacts of lockdowns on the working class laboring in the service sector of lodging and restaurants.

 

Ardern shares the daily anxiety that accompanies the office of the prime minister. Upon resigning, she describes the feeling of losing an immense weight on her shoulders. The 40th prime minister of New Zealand had an amazing run, as viewers of this 2025 documentary from directors Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe will see. 

 

Governance under a parliamentary system can open the door to a politics of the possible for the working class, the majority. Contrast that system of governance with the capitalist-controlled political duopoly of the U.S. Contradictions drive history, which people like Ardern make under conditions they inherit, to paraphrase a dead German writer.

Seth Sandronsky is a Sacramento journalist and member of the freelancers unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild. Email sethsandronsky@gmail.com