doctor hotez, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.do you expect the outbreak to continue to grow? >> yes, it will, wolf, because every every tuesday and friday we get updates and the numbers are always going up. and remember the incubation period, the time from when you're infected with the virus to you show symptoms is just under two weeks. so anytime the number goes up, you know the this epidemic keeps evergreening, meaning it will continue to rise for at least another two weeks. so this will certainly last in the minimum to the end of this month, and likely well into the spring, unfortunately. >> what do you say to those people who are reluctant to get a vaccine to deal with with the measles? >> well, you know, this is a serious virus illness. 20% of kids typically require hospitalization, either because of measles, pneumonia or neurological symptoms, including encephalitis or deafness. ocular involvement, dehydration due to severe diarrhea. measles is a bad actor, and up until a few years ago, measles was the single leading killer

doctor peter hotez is joining us now. he's a professor and dean of tropical medicine at baylor college of medicine. doctor hotez, thanks for being here with us. how would you evaluate where we are in this outbreak and the information that we have now? >> well, we're getting updates, jessica, every tuesday and friday from the texas health department or unfortunately, every tuesday and friday, the number is higher than it was before. that means it's still accelerating. and in a kind of evergreens, in the sense that the incubation period of measles, from the time you're exposed to the virus, to you start showing symptoms is on average 12 to 13 days. so what it means is, every time you hear an increase on a tuesday or a friday, you can assume that the epidemic is going to last at least another two weeks after that. and this is continuing to accelerate. it's become a very large and very dangerous measles epidemic. and remember those numbers of 200 plus are probably underestimates. the numbers are, the actual numbers are likely

doctor peter hotez, thank you. we really appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> tomorrow, ukrainian president zelenskyy meets with leaders from across the eu as he goes on a charm offensive after yesterday's disastrous oval office meeting with president trump and vice president pence here in the cnn newsroom. >> cooked books. >> corporate fat cats. >> swindling socialites, doped. >> up cyclists. >> and yes. >> more crooked politicians. >> i have. >> a feeling we won't be. >> running out of those anytime soon. >> a new season of united states of scandal with jake tapper, march 9th on cnn. >> take a breath of fresh air with a stanley steamer air duct cleaning. we clean over 10,000,000ft of air ducts each year with our specialized trucks built by us, removing the contaminants from your home. your air ducts aren't clean until their stanley steemer cleans. >> your home cleaner. >> i brought in ensure max protein with 30g of protein. >> those who tried. >> me felt more energy in just two weeks. here, i'll take that in. >

doctor hotez, great to see you. let's zero in on betsy arakawa cause of death. and i mean, we're hearing about this hantavirus, a lot of us for the first time. i mean, it's a rare virus linked to rodent droppings. it is a virus, you know, that is unknown to to many of us. can you walk us through what it is, its origin? >> yeah, it's it's primarily the syndrome of hantavirus. pulmonary syndrome is primarily found in the southwestern part. of the. united states. so new mexico. actually has the largest number of. >> human cases. >> it's still relatively uncommon or rare. the new mexico health department reports around. >> seven. >> on average, six or 7. >> or 8. >> cases a year, particularly in the northwestern section of the state. so not so much santa fe. but what happens, frederico, is, is the deer, mice, and it's a type of mouse called peromyscus living in that region. many of those mice with without without any symptoms themselves, no illness to the, to the, to the rodents, the mice will shed virus in their urine and other droppings. so if you have a house or

joining us now, doctor peter hotez. he's co-director of the texas children's hospital center for vaccine development, also professor and dean of tropical medicine at baylor college of medicine. doctor hotez, what do you make of rfk's suggestion? he seems to be suggesting that getting measles is the best defense against it in the future for kids. and look, it is true that people who get measles likely are immune for the rest of their lives. not 100%, but but he seems to be suggesting that that's like the good old days. >> yeah. >> that's right. >> this is the rfk. >> jr. playbook. and he has been doing this for decades. and and in my discussions with him, you know, the first part is right. >> infection with. >> measles does confer lifelong protective immunity. >> and and. >> that's the way it was. and before the widespread vaccination. but the problem is, as you point out, and as you showed up on that panel, which, by the way, was actually my paper and plus a global public health, 20% of kids who get measles requires hos

and doctor hotez, of course, a world renowned infectious disease expert. doctor, i'm, you know, this is just such a such a tragedy. can you just explain how rare hantavirus is and how gene hackman's wife, betsy, could have even contracted it? >> yeah. aaron, it's it's rare, but there are about a handful of cases every year in new mexico. seven, i think in 2024 and seven cases in 2023. i think this may have been the first case this year that tends to occur more in the northwestern part of the state, rather than in santa fe. and the reason is because there's a type of mouse called a deer mouse that can harbor the virus with no symptoms. and what happens is, if there's a mouse infestation in your home, the mice get in through various holes in, in, in the home or in the housing. then their you're in and their other bodily fluids can contain virus. that virus can aerosolize. and then in this case, unfortunately, she likely inhaled the virus through aerosol. sometimes it gets into the cuts in the skin, and then you can have a pretty rapid, deteriorating course.

. >> doctor peter hotez is the co-director of the center for vaccine development at texas children'sl school of tropical medicine at baylor college of medicine and author of the deadly rise of anti-science a scientist's warning. he spoke at a press conference on the measles outbreak in texas just this week. and he joins me now. doctor, i'm trying to not be i'm trying to be open minded or at least charitable. but it seems strange to me that the secretary of health and human services, in the midst of a deadly measles outbreak, has not, on camera, urged people to get vaccinated once. so far as i can tell. >> yeah. >> and he actually wrote an opinion piece in. >> fox news. >> for the fox. news website where. he started talking about the vaccine. >> but then. >> he didn't talk. >> about its. >> effectiveness and. >> why it's safe, instead. >> pivoted to everything. >> else. including some. >> of the things that he mentioned and what you. >> just played. the point. >> is that, chris. >> this is a very dangerous measles. >> epidemic here in west. texas and now moving into new mexico. >> the

have the mmr vaccine. >> one of the safest. >> most effective vaccines. >> we have. >> doctor peter hotezte it. thank you so much. >> thank you anna. >> next on ana cabrera reports another air scare after a small plane crashes outside a retirement. community in pennsylvania. look at those flames and all that smoke. >> i'm howie mandel. the newest ambassador. >> of skechers. >> funny story. how i became an ambassador. i went to the store and i lied and said i was an ambassador. do i get a discount? the owner called. >> me and said, would. >> you like to be an ambassador for skechers? >> and i said, yes. >> try skechers slip ins. >> our restaurant's been in business. >> for 17 years. >> american technology and innovation are a part. >> of everything. >> we do. from helping us attract new customers to facilitating deliveries through websites and apps. >> i'm really. >> excited about. >> what artificial intelligence. >> can do for small businesses like ours. this game changing technology can make us. smarter and more efficient. advancing open source ai will make our economy and main streets e