Measles Cases Surge in US, Reaching Highest Level Since 1991 Amid Falling Vaccination Rates

The United States has reported 2,566 cases of measles and 38 outbreaks so far in 2026, marking the highest number of infections since 1991. This figure represents an increase of nearly 250 cases since the previous report on July 24, surpassing the 2,289 cases recorded in all of 2025. This marks the second consecutive annual record since measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, coinciding with a decline in vaccination rates.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 93% of this year's cases occurred in unvaccinated individuals. Furthermore, two out of every three cases, or 67%, were reported in children and young people aged 0 to 19. Despite the rising number of infections, no deaths from measles have been confirmed in 2026, a contrast to the three fatalities recorded last year.

The disease has spread across 47 states and territories. States with the highest case counts this year include South Carolina (670), Utah (526), Pennsylvania (280), Texas (190), Virginia (176), Florida (141), and Arizona (109). This record surge occurs amid a drop in preschooler vaccination rates, which fell from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.5% in the 2024-2025 school year, leaving an estimated 286,000 students "at risk."

Herd immunity, requiring over 95% of a community to be vaccinated, is currently met in only 10 states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia. This situation unfolds against a backdrop of policies questioning vaccines, including an executive order by President Donald Trump. This order reduces the number of diseases for which the federal government recommends universal childhood vaccination from 18 to 11 and establishes new categories for other immunizations. The measure, supported by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., places vaccines for influenza, COVID-19, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, and meningitis under risk-based criteria or shared decision-making between parents and doctors, while also mandating a review of the federal childhood vaccination schedule.