Measles in no longer considered eliminated in the United States.
The Measles and Rubella Elimination Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission, an independent commission of experts that reports to the director of the Pan American Health Organization, made the determination this week that measles cases from the same chains of transmission had continued for 12 months or longer in the US, a source close to the process told CNN.
The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The loss of the nation’s measles elimination status was widely expected after years of falling vaccination levels and surging case counts, but it’s still a black mark on US public health policy.
After a record-breaking year in 2025, more than 5,400 measles cases have been reported in the US in 2026 – the highest number since 1991. Most cases are linked to 43 new outbreaks this year, but more than 1,000 cases are related to outbreaks that began last year.
Nearly all cases have been in people who had not received the highly effective measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or whose vaccination status is unknown.
People have been hospitalized in roughly 1 in 9 reported cases this year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and at least 10 people have died after catching measles, according to state reports.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
