(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — After initial reports of a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, 18 Americans are in quarantine following the death of at least three people on the ship. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke briefly at a press conference this week about the outbreak, but has largely remained silent on the issue. In response, 314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton released the following statement:
“When do you build the ark? Before the flood,” said 314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton. “It’s been over a week since the World Health Organization first announced its response to the hantavirus outbreak—and RFK Jr. has stayed virtually silent. Americans are in the dark because RFK Jr. hasn’t issued any health alerts or communicated updates to the public on how his team is managing the outbreak, and they are turning to their local doctors for answers.
“After taking a sledgehammer to public health, disease experts are sounding the alarm that RFK Jr.’s actions have left the United States dangerously unprepared for the next outbreak. He dismantled our public health agencies, fired the full-time employees at the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program, withdrew funding for mRNA vaccine research critical to our national security and eroded the public’s trust in the expertise of federal health officials.
“While reports suggest the spread of hantavirus is slow and U.S. passengers are being quarantined, RFK Jr.’s campaign to bypass the CDC and shrink America’s public health agencies has once again put Americans’ health in danger. Americans deserve a CDC that is fully funded and fully staffed by career scientists—not career political hacks. Now more than ever to elect, we need to elect more Democratic scientists and doctors to restore the CDC and protect Americans from another COVID.”
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