US Measles Cases Surpass Record at 2,318

The United States has recorded over 2,318 measles cases this year, surpassing last year's record of 2,289 infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this marks the highest number of measles cases since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.

The surge is driven by major outbreaks in South Carolina, where health authorities have recorded nearly 1,000 cases, as well as ongoing outbreaks in Utah and Arizona. The CDC has reported 35 new measles outbreaks this year alone. Health officials warn that declining vaccination rates are fueling the resurgence of a disease that had previously been virtually eliminated through successful vaccination campaigns.

Pediatricians on the front lines have shared harrowing accounts of treating children with severe symptoms, including respiratory distress and brain swelling. Doctors emphasize that many of these cases could have been prevented with proper vaccination. The American Academy of Pediatrics has described the situation as an 'avoidable crisis' that disproportionately affects children.

Last year, the U.S. recorded three measles deaths—the first deaths since 2015 and the first among children since 2003. The deaths occurred in two unvaccinated school-age children in Texas and one unvaccinated adult in New Mexico. So far this year, more than 150 measles patients have required hospitalization.

International health officials are scheduled to meet in November to decide whether the US should lose its measles-free status, a designation achieved through high vaccination rates. However, coverage has declined in recent years, falling below the 95% level considered necessary to prevent outbreaks. The CDC and other health experts stress that reversing this trend will require a nationwide effort to increase vaccination rates.

Nationally, measles vaccination rates have been declining, dropping below the 95% threshold experts say is needed to prevent widespread outbreaks. During the 2024-25 school year, just 92.5% of kindergartners had received the measles vaccine, down from 95.2% during the 2019-20 school year.

Several outbreaks have spread measles in California this year: one in Riverside County involving three people infected in a single family; one in Shasta County infecting nine people among a church group; and an outbreak in Sacramento County and neighboring Placer County. The surge comes as the nation's top health agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, is led by vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose critics have charged that his messaging has fueled public skepticism of vaccines.