Measles cases hit 1,001 as anti-vaxxers hold another rally of disinformation

BROOKLYN, NY - JUNE 04: Anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree speaks with journalists before entering an anti-vaccine symposium on June 4, 2019. (credit: Getty | The Washington Post)

Prominent anti-vaccine advocates and conspiracy theorists held another rally of misinformation in New York Tuesday as the national tally of measles cases ticked passed 1,000.

The rally was held at an event hall in Brooklyn, an area hard hit by a measles outbreak that began last September. There have been 566 confirmed cases in New York City since then, mostly in unvaccinated children in the Orthodox Jewish community.

The rally-the second of its kind in New York in recent weeks-is part of a pattern of anti-vaccine groups targeting vulnerable communities that are grappling with outbreaks. Like the previous rally, Tuesday's event featured Rabbi Hillel Handler and Del Bigtree, both prominent anti-vaccine provocateurs known for fear mongering and spreading myths about lifesaving immunizations.

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