Are you implying the CDC (part of PHS and itself part of HHS) has no authority to track and provide technical resources to combat measles outbreaks within individual states?
No, I'm asking what particular "rapid response" you would expect at this moment from a typical HHS secretary.
A declaration or official determination? Dispatching some kind of team? A press conference to assure the American public that they are aware and monitoring the situation closely?
I'll grant that is unlikely to happen with the kooks and crooks who just took office, but you've got to admit that--even in the best of times--a generic "reminder of the importance of" would be a timid and not-very-newsworthy type of "rapid response".
The the majority of the blame here lies on years of behavior by people and officials within Texas.
Various federal organizations get involved in single-state issues in their purview all the time, including the CDC. A single state outbreak can quickly become a multi-state outbtreak, then a nationwide outbreak. Measles, being one of the most contagious diseases in existence, is no joke, so even a small outbreak can be cause for serious concern. Measles has a r0 between 12 and 18, covid has an r0 between 1.4 and 2.4; when extrapolated exponentially, things get gnarly at an alarming rate.
https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Public_Health_...