Officials are going to work with universities to develop treatments.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is going to work to find treatments for measles, which has caused multiple outbreaks in the United States this year, a spokesperson says.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “will be enlisting the entire agency to activate a scientific process to treat a host of diseases, including measles, with single or multiple existing drugs in combination with vitamins and other modalities,” an HHS spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a May 1 email.
HHS includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.
“This effort will involve collaboration with universities nationwide to develop protocols, conduct testing, and pursue approval for new uses of safe and effective therapeutics that meet the highest scientific standards,” the spokesperson added.
It wasn’t clear which universities would be involved.
A measles outbreak started in Texas earlier this year and other outbreaks have since been confirmed in other areas. The CDC says on its website that as of May 1, there was a total of 935 measles cases across 30 jurisdictions so far in 2025. Four percent of confirmed patients have been vaccinated, while the rest were not vaccinated or had unknown vaccination status.
The CDC, which did not return a query, said in a fact sheet for health care providers that it has been removed that no specific therapies are approved by federal regulators for managing measles.
“Medical care is generally supportive to help relieve symptoms,” the fact sheet said. “Vitamin A may be used under the supervision of a healthcare provider. Other therapies, such as antibiotics should be prescribed based on clinical judgement by an individual healthcare provider.”
The CDC also told providers that vitamin A does not prevent measles and is not a substitution for vaccination. It also highlighted research has found vitamin A successfully prevents measles deaths in children in areas with vitamin A deficiency, said many American children are not deficient in vitamin A, and warned that overusing vitamin A can lead to problems such as liver damage.
Similar information is still available on the CDC’s site.
Kennedy has said that people should receive the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine.
