The Return of Pneumonic Plague in Arizona:
The first fatal infection of another previously eradicated disease in almost two decades is an indictment of RFK Jr.’s “MAHA” scam.
The photo is courtesy of Alexandros Michailidis.
On Friday, July 11th, Coconino County Health and Human Services officials confirmed that an Arizona resident died of pneumonic plague, becoming the first person in almost 20 years to succumb to the disease in the area.
According to local officials, the victim, who has not been identified, was a resident of Coconino County, where the city of Flagstaff is located.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the deceased,” Coconino County Board of Supervisors Chair Patrice Horstman stated in a press release.
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“Out of respect for the family, no additional information about the death will be released,” Patrice Horstman wrote.
Friday’s victim was the first recorded death from pneumonic plague in Coconino County since 2007, when an individual had an interaction with a dead animal infected with the disease.
Coconino County reported that the death is not related to recent news of a prairie dog die-off in the Townsend-Winona area, northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports an average of seven human pneumonic plague cases annually in the United States.
The last urban pneumonic plague epidemic in the United States occurred in Los Angeles from 1924 through 1925.
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A graphic illustration of the Yersinia pestis bacteria, which causes the pneumonic plague. The illustration is courtesy of Smith Collection and Getty Images News.
The pneumonic plague, most commonly found on the continent of Africa, has typically infected Americans in rural southwestern states, including Colorado, New Mexico, northern Arizona, western Nevada, southern California, and southern Oregon.
While the CDC indicates that the risk to the local public from pneumonic plague is low, the resurgence of this dangerous infectious disease signals a concerning pattern. It echoes previous outbreaks of epidemics that had been eradicated or managed, reflecting the broader political and public health agendas of Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr.’s “MAGA” and “MAHA” movements.
As we have often reported here at Public Policy Reviews, RFK Jr. is a notorious vaccine conspiracy theorist. Given President Trump’s poor public health policy record, particularly his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic in his first term (2017-2021), it was not surprising that he appointed a charlatan like Mr. Kennedy to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
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What is frighteningly surprising is how rapidly America’s federal and state-level public health apparatus has deteriorated after the six-month demolition of the “administrative state” by Mr. Trump, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 agenda, and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sham.
Since Trump’s inauguration on January 20th, the President has issued executive orders to pause public communications and news from the HHS and its sub-agencies, while also cutting funding and significantly reducing the civil workforce across multiple federal agencies.
Since January, DOGE has reportedly contributed to approximately 260,000 federal firings, resignations, and early retirements. Donald Trump’s destruction of federal public health programs, processes, and procedures has been especially disastrous.
The federal budget cuts and RFK Jr.’s conspiracy theories are creating a significant public health crisis with the resurgence of measles and other previously controlled infectious diseases in America.
Since early 2025, the United States has experienced its most severe measles outbreak in 33 years.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified during his Senate Health Committee confirmation hearing in February 2025. The photo is courtesy of Kevin Dietsch and Getty Images.
The national mainstream media is slowly beginning to make the connections between Secretary Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism and the return of measles, tuberculosis, Salmonella, Listeria, and dengue virus.
To put it succinctly, RFK Jr., “MAHA,” and Project 2025 are fueling the current public health and natural disaster crises engulfing the United States. The decrease in funding for federal agencies has significantly impacted the US government’s ability to fulfill its vital public health responsibilities.
Before the first Trump administration and the current President’s ignominious return to office in 2024, HHS effectively assisted American states in conducting disease surveillance, implementing vaccination programs, and responding to national pandemics and epidemic outbreaks.
Disease Surveillance: Federal health agencies monitored disease patterns, detected outbreaks early, and tracked the spread of infections.
Vaccination Programs: These agencies also coordinated nationwide vaccination efforts to ensure that vaccines were safe, available, accessible, and administered effectively.
Outbreak Response: The HHS and its subagencies provided resources, expertise, and logistical support to the states to manage and contain disease outbreaks.
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Before Trump, Project 2025, DOGE, and RFK Jr.’s conspiracy-laden grift featuring multiple dubious “wellness” companies, efforts at HHS have historically been instrumental in eliminating or controlling diseases such as polio, smallpox, and measles.
With decreased funding to HHS after January 20th, national and statewide vaccination programs have suffered, and federal outreach initiatives to promote immunization and educate the public about vaccine safety have diminished.
The Trump administration, Health Secretary Kennedy, and their “MAHA” co-conspirators are actively lowering the nation’s vaccination rates. Their policies create pockets of unvaccinated individuals, making communities vulnerable to future epidemic outbreaks.
At the same time, Project 2025 will make it harder to rebuild the vaccination infrastructure and persuade communities to immunize even after Trump, the national Republican Party, and RFK Jr. are removed from power. Of course, this assumes that Donald Trump and his cohorts will willingly concede defeat in 2026 and 2028.
Does anyone still remember January 6th, 2021?