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Nearly 160 Recruits Sickened by Flu at Lackland as Base Orders Vaccinations

The outbreak followed the Pentagon’s April move to make flu shots voluntary and prompted an approved exception to require shots for recruits at the training wing.

Airmen at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas on July 11, 2025.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, shown greeting Army National Guard troops in Washington, announced in April that flu vaccination was no longer mandatory for military personnel.
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Nearly 160 servicemembers at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio are ill amid what U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro described as an outbreak following the end of the military’s flu vaccine mandate. (SBG San Antonio)

Overview

  • The Air Force says a localized influenza outbreak at the 37th Training Wing has infected roughly 150–160 basic trainees and sent a small number to hospital while medical teams isolate and treat symptomatic recruits.
  • The outbreak developed in late May and ran for about three weeks, spreading rapidly in open‑bay barracks and communal dining where close contact speeds transmission.
  • Medical staff are monitoring close contacts, isolating sick trainees and treating symptomatic cases with antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu).
  • Vaccination uptake among Air Force trainees fell to about 40 percent after the April 21 policy change that made annual flu shots voluntary, and the Pentagon granted an exception so Lackland could reinstate required shots for recruits.
  • A trainee, Keon McDaniel, died after a medical emergency on June 12 and a comprehensive medical review is under way; officials say there is not yet a confirmed link between his death and the influenza cases.