Measles scare hits creationist Ark Encounter as unvaccinated visitor spreads infection

The creationist theme park Ark Encounter was hit with a measles scare after an infected person visited the Kentucky attraction.

According to the Kentucky Department for Public Health, the infected person was not vaccinated for measles.

"Health officials have identified potential measles exposures in Grant County, Kentucky. An unvaccinated, out-of-state traveler stayed at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Dry Ridge from December 28 to 30, 2025 and visited the Ark Encounter on December 29, 2025," the department said in a notice posted to Facebook. "Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that can cause serious health complications, especially in young children. Vaccination is the best protection against measles. Immunization against measles comes through the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine."

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to a recent measles outbreak in Texas by insisting that the federal government should not mandate the vaccine. He has also raised safety concerns about the vaccine, insisting that it had not been adequately tested.

However, scientists have determined that the vaccine is safe and effective.

Kennedy has argued that people who died during measles outbreaks were "already sick."

"Reframing these deaths as something other than what they are – deaths from measles, which is not harmless at all – is necessary to prop up the dual pillars of anti-vaccine propaganda in play here," Georgetown University professor Renee DiResta told The Associated Press.