Once again rejecting proposed cuts to vital domestic and global health programs and research, House appropriators Wednesday approved funding for fiscal year 2020 that demonstrates commitment to tackling critical health challenges and threats at home and abroad.

As of April 24, this year has exceeded the greatest number of measles cases in the United States since the disease was declared eliminated here in 2000. While cases across 22 states have stemmed from importation through foreign travel, the large and lasting nature of outbreaks in New York increases the risks that measles will once again become endemic in the U.S.

The announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wednesday that measles cases in the United States have reached numbers unseen since the disease was declared eliminated here in 2000 brings with it the real possibility that measles could again become endemic in this country.