If you had to describe the most recent measles outbreak in Washington and Oregon in like one sentence, what would you say?

I would say this is a self-inflicted wound caused by carelessness and a deliberate attempt to throw children under the bus for political gain and expediency.

You weren't expecting that answer, were you?

No, I was, actually. I've looked at your Twitter feed, friend.

This is Dr. Peter Hotez. He's an infectious disease expert.

And for the last month, he has been watching as officials in Clark County, Washington, try to contain an outbreak of measles that spread as far as Hawaii. He's got strong opinions about how this outbreak happened and who's responsible for it. I mean, it seems like every day we're getting more cases. What is that? Well, you have to

remember, measles is one of the most contagious childhood infections known. The measles virus can live

on surfaces and in the air for up to two hours after an infected person coughs or sneezes.

That means that each sick person will transmit the disease to up to 18 others.

But Peter says this outbreak is about something else.

It's about what happens when life-saving vaccines become optional.

Nearly a quarter of Clark County's kindergartners aren't up to date on their shots.

You've got pockets now more in the western states than in the eastern half, so Pacific

Northwest, American Southwest.

We have counties and districts where 20, 30, 40 percent of kids are not getting their vaccines.

And that's a problem because that's when you get these breakthrough epidemics of measles and pertussis.

And so we're basically, are in the process of unraveling all of our public health gains over the last couple of decades.

Talking to Dr. Hottes, you can practically hear the bowtie he's wearing.

He sounds like the physician he is, marshalling evidence, calmly explaining things.

But when he talks about this outbreak, something changes. He's frustrated.

Earlier this week, he got on Twitter and called out the director of the CDC and the Surgeon General for not doing more to fix vaccination loopholes.

Yeah, and I tried to do it in as respectful a way as possible.

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