By: Julie O'Donoghue-November 25, 2025 Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, who rolled back government vaccine distribution as the state’s top public health official, has been appointed to the second highest position at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Abraham, a 71-year-old medical doctor, lives in rural Richland Parish and served as a Republican congressman representing Northeast Louisiana from 2015-21. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Abraham has espoused skepticism about vaccines for years. After becoming appointed surgeon general last year, he scuttled the Louisiana’s longstanding vaccine promotion program, shutting down its advertising campaign and eliminating mass vaccination events the state has conducted for decades for the flu and other diseases.
Recently, Abraham also drew criticism from other public health experts for waiting several weeks to make a public statement and offer guidance on whooping cough after two babies in Louisiana died from the illness earlier this year.
Gov. Jeff Landry, who has also expressed skepticism about vaccines, praised Abraham’s appointment to help lead the nation’s leading public health organization.
“While we are certainly sad to lose Dr. Abraham here in Louisiana, we are thrilled to see the CDC gain a selfless leader,” Landry said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “There is no better advocate for health freedom than Ralph Abraham.”
Prior to his government roles, Abraham worked as a veterinarian treating animals for a decade and then returned to school and earned his medical degree in 1994 at age 40. He operated a general practice and still treats patients on a part-time basis at a rural health clinic in Louisiana’s Mississippi Delta region, one of the poorest sections of the country.
Gov. Jeff Landry tapped Abraham to be Louisiana’s health secretary for the first several months of Landry’s administration in 2024. The governor and state lawmakers then created the position of state surgeon general specifically for Abraham last year. In that job, the former congressman has been in charge of the state’s public health efforts and said he planned to focus on preventing diseases such as diabetes and obesity in Louisiana.
In addition to casting doubt on the need for vaccines, Abraham has also promoted COVID-19 treatments that infectious disease experts have widely debunked. They include taking hydroxychloroquine, a medication used to prevent malaria, and ivermectin, a drug used for parasitic infections.
As recently as last month, Abraham cited talking points promoted by anti-vaccine groups in a public appearance. At a press conference, he highlighted a Cleveland Clinic study that skeptics use to cast doubt on the usefulness of the flu vaccine.
Staff at the Cleveland Clinic and other disease experts have pushed back on the interpretation of the study Abraham reiterated and emphasized the study doesn’t prove the flu vaccine is ineffective.