Terri Copeland Pearsons
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The current measles outbreak in Texas — which has sickened at least 21 people in the northern part of
the state — has been linked to a megachurch that encourages faith healing. The Eagle Mountain International
Church has a relatively high population of unvaccinated congregants, which
allowed the highly-contagious virus to spread rapidly among them.
Texas’ state epidemiologist
reported this week that he hastraced the origins of the
outbreak, which first emerged about two weeks ago. After a man
became sick with measles while traveling to Indonesia, he passed the infection
to the other attendees at the megachurch — which repeatedly attracts over a thousand people each Sunday — when he returned home. Measles spread to the congregation,
the staff, and a daycare center on church property.
Even though the Texas
county where the church is located has an overall vaccination rate of about 98
percent, state officials note that Eagle Mountain International Church includes
a “pocket” of people who aren’t vaccinated. The children who contracted measles
there are homeschooled, so their parents haven’t been required by state law to
get them their measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. That’s likely because
senior pastor Terri Pearsons has expressed unfounded skepticism about vaccines
in the past, repeating thewidely debunked conspiracy
theory that they
can lead to autism.
Pearsons is the oldest
daughter of conservative televangelist Kenneth
Copeland, who has also endorsed anti-vaccine myths. Eagle Mountain International Church is a
division of Kenneth Copeland Ministries, which maintains a position on “faith
healing” that encourages people to make up their own minds about vaccines
rather than putting too much stock in the scientific community. “Kenneth
Copeland Ministries’ position regarding dealing with any medical condition
involving yourself or someone in your family is to first seek the wisdom of
God, His Word, and appropriate medical attention from a professional that you
know and trust,” a statement from the executive
offices of the organization explains.
“Apply wisdom and discernment in carrying out their recommendations for
treatment. This would include: vaccinations, immunizations, surgeries,
prescriptions, or any other medical procedures.”
Measles, which is so
contagious that 90 percent of the unvaccinated people who are exposed to it
will get sick, used to kill about 500 Americans each year. Now, advances in
immunizations have virtually eradicated the once-common childhood disease. But health officials warn that
unvaccinated pockets like Eagle Mountain International Church could allow the virus to come back.
“This is a classic example
of how measles is being reintroduced,” William Schaffner, an infectious disease
expert at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told USA Today.
“This is a sadly misinformed religious leader.”
Since health officials first
notified the megachurch about the measles outbreak in mid-August, they say
church leaders have been very cooperative of their efforts to contain the
virus. But Pearson has also continued to express her reservations about
vaccines. “The concerns we have had are primarily with very young children who
have family history of autism and with bundling too many immunizations at one
time,” she said in a statement on August 15.
Since then, the church has
scheduled two vaccination clinics, and Pearson began urging congregants to get
their shots. Pearson is also recommending that congregants take vitamin D to “fortify their immune systems,”
even though there’s no scientific evidence that vitamins actually protect
people against measles like a vaccination would.
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