A Republican anti-vaxxer from Redding, Shasta County, California, has caused a bit of panic for people in the US after he went home from Texas after contracting what he says was measles. To make matters worse, he failed to inform any authority about what he assumed was measles before he returned to his hometown. Now, some authorities are scrambling to track and monitor any potential outbreak that the anti-vaxxer has caused.
Brian Hooker, PhD, is the anti-vaxxer in question, and he’s also one of the most well-known anti-vaccine activists in the US. Hooker went to West Texas back in March to interview measles victims all over the state to fuel their anti-vaccine mission and narrative. After that, he went back home to Redding City in California. Consequently, Hooker started developing measles symptoms three weeks after he got back home, something he revealed in a May 22 podcast.
“Full disclosure, 18 days after visiting Seminole, Texas, sitting in a measles clinic and being exposed to Doctor Ben with the measles, I got the measles. So cool,” says Hooker in a Vaccine Safety Research Foundation podcast, courtesy of The Guardian
Hence, Brian Hooker revealed that he got measles only in a podcast, not to medical authorities, and could’ve potentially spread the disease from Texas to California. Hooker also didn’t appear worried about the implications of his action, even finding it cool that he managed to catch measles and survive.
However, it’s not exactly clear whether it was actually measles that Brian Hooker caught since it appears he didn’t seek any genuine medical help and perhaps merely assumed that it was measles after so much exposure to patients in Texas. The focus of Hooker’s measles story was also on his anti-vaxxer narrative, saying he managed to treat and survive his “measles” without the vaccine.
False Alarm?
Thankfully, it appears Brian Hooker could’ve been wrong about catching “measles” from Texas because the Shasta County Health & Human Services claims there’s no case of measles in the area, at least none that’s reported. The measles virus is characterized by a distinct, widespread body and face rash accompanied by fever and other symptoms similar to cold and pneumonia. It’s especially deadly to children.
Since weeks have passed since Hooker claims he contracted and “cured” his “measles” in the May 22 podcast, it might be safe to assume that it wasn’t really measles since the virus is highly contagious and spreads airborne. Still, people online were not amused by Hooker’s narrative, as many have assumed that he faked having measles so that, in turn, he could also fake the effectiveness of his anti-vaccine group’s alternative cure. Some were not convinced of the Republican anti-vaxxer’s integrity or his intentions.
“Good, now go hang out with all your maga buddies! Show us how wrong we are!” says Sirmalta
“Typical selfish anti-vaxxer,” according to Desperate_Set_7708
“and they never seem to be the ones to die. they just kill others, usually the most vulnerable around them…. no consequences, either,” states tonytown
In any case, people in Shasta County, California, might still want to get their boosters given how some of the Republican anti-vaxxers in the area, like Brian Hooker, tend to visit measles hotspots in the US and go back home with “souvenirs,” regardless of whether they’re real or imagined.
