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U.S. Measles Cases Surge to Highest Level in Decades

The outbreak threatens the country’s measles-elimination status and has prompted federal epidemiologic teams to support state responses.

A sign sits outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Roybal campus in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Megan Varner/File Photo
A nurse, prepares a combination measles, mumps and rubella vaccine for a patient at a pediatrics clinic in Easley, S.C., March 17, 2026. AP Photo/Mary Conlon, File
Relatives comfort six-year-old Istiyak Mahmud Zayan, who is receiving treatment on the floor of the overcrowded measles isolation ward of Shahid Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital after developing symptoms of measles, in Sylhet, Bangladesh, September 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
Bilkis and other parents take care of their children receiving treatment at the overcrowded measles isolation ward of Shahid Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital after developing symptoms of measles, in Sylhet, Bangladesh, September 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

Overview

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 4,410 confirmed measles cases and 451 hospitalizations as of Oct. 15, with weekly totals rising steadily over the past month.
  • Pennsylvania is the national hotspot with about 1,200 cases and has requested a CDC Epi‑Aid; the agency is sending an Epidemic Intelligence Service investigator to help state health officials.
  • Public-health officials say falling two-dose MMR coverage and rising nonmedical exemptions have created immunity pockets that explain why roughly 96% of cases are in people who are unvaccinated or whose status is unknown.
  • New local clusters continue to emerge or grow in multiple states, including separate outbreaks in Minnesota’s Todd and Fillmore counties, new suspected clusters in Wisconsin, and large counts in Ohio and New York, putting infants and immunocompromised people at highest risk.
  • The Pan American Health Organization will review whether endemic measles transmission has been re-established in the Americas and a recent change to how the CDC counts measles deaths has produced discrepancies between state and federal fatality totals.