An influenza outbreak is affecting recruits and service members at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, several reports say. Multiple outlets report that dozens to nearly 160 troops become ill in recent weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rescinds the military’s long-standing requirement that service members receive an annual flu vaccination.
CBS News and ABC News, citing sources, describe the outbreak as beginning in the weeks following the change in policy and indicate that the affected group is part of Air Force basic training. The Hill similarly reports that more than 160 troops have contracted the flu in the past few weeks, while The Guardian and The Independent describe the number of sickening recruits as nearing 160.
The Air Force and the broader defense department do not appear to be described in these accounts as disputing the outbreak figures, though the reports vary slightly in wording and totals. Several sources link the timing of the outbreak to the decision to make flu vaccines optional, but the coverage does not attribute the outbreak to a specific cause beyond the change in policy.
