Measles cases are surging across the U.S. this year, reaching 2,295, already topping the total from all last year and pushing measles cases to their highest point in over thirty years. In Florida alone, health officials have tracked 155 cases since January, most of which led back to an outbreak at Ave Maria University in Collier County.
Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo took part in an interview with News 6 on Friday, July 24, 2026, in Orlando, Florida. Though he called the measles vaccine effective, he wouldn’t go so far as to urge families to get vaccinated. He emphasized personal choice, saying, “People should decide what goes into their body without coercion.”
The CDC reported that 2026 has brought a sharp jump in measles cases nationwide. At the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, researchers noted Florida’s numbers have soared from just seven cases in 2025 to over 140 this year. When pressed about this spike, Ladapo responded, “Everyone’s gotta get the vaccine,” but his tone suggested hesitation. He pointed to Ave Maria University as a source of the outbreak and brought up the vaccine’s development, referencing concerns frequently raised in debates about vaccination, about the original use of cells derived from fetuses in the 1960s.
The American Academy of Pediatrics directly addressed this claim, stating on its website that although some vaccines use cell lines originating decades ago from two aborted fetuses, no new fetal tissue is involved, and these lines have persisted since then. The final vaccine contains no fetal cells.
So far, the Florida Department of Health has counted cases in several counties, including three in Orange County and one in Osceola.
Ladapo stands by the science that the measles vaccine works, but he’s made it clear he sees vaccination as a choice, not a mandate. “The measles vaccine is effective against measles,” he said, “but ultimately, people should be free to decide what they put into their bodies.”
