The United States has lost its measles elimination status after 26 years, following an unyielding surge in infections and tumbling childhood vaccination rates.
An international panel of independent experts assessed data through the sixth annual meeting of the Pan American Health Organization’s Measles and Rubella Elimination Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission, which ran from November 10 to 13, 2026. The independent technical body confirmed that the country has experienced continuous, uninterrupted transmission for over 12 months, stripping the nation of the milestone it first achieved in 2000 when PAHO verified the interruption of endemic circulation.
The RVC first invited the United States and Mexico to a review in April 2026, following outbreaks beginning January 20, 2025, in the U.S. and February 1, 2025, in Mexico. The commission reviewed data from 2025 and the first half of 2026 covering vaccination coverage, surveillance quality, molecular and virological laboratory evidence, and outbreak response.
“It's just like popcorn: outbreak, outbreak, outbreak, outbreak. All over the country,” said epidemiologist Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, director of Brown University's Pandemic Center.
Measles Cases and Deaths Reach Highest Levels Since 1991
The disease has returned at a scale not seen in over three decades. More than 5,400 measles cases have been reported across the United States this year, according to figures tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking the highest case count since 1991 and dwarfing the 2,289 confirmed infections recorded throughout 2025.
People have been hospitalized in roughly 1 in 9 reported cases, and at least 10 people have died after catching measles, according to state reports.
State health departments have confirmed ten measles-associated deaths nationwide so far in 2026. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said that revoking the U.S. elimination status would merely recognize what has been a fact on the ground for months.
Low Vaccination Rates Increase Economic Burden on Health Departments
Stopping the virus from spreading requires approximately 95 percent of a population to be immune, leaving hundreds of thousands of children unprotected as vaccination coverage falls below the required threshold.
The financial toll of these outbreaks is mounting rapidly.
“It’s not like your health department is sitting around waiting for measles outbreaks,” said Dr. William Mattingly. He added that while it is not super expensive to treat a single case of cancer compared to a single case of measles, constantly diverting resources that could be spent elsewhere by state and local health departments winds up costing a lot of money very quickly.
CDC Focuses on Vaccination to Regain Elimination Status
Federal health officials maintain that the administrative designation does not alter their operational strategy. “The measles elimination designation is not what protects Americans,” CDC Director Erica Schwartz said. “Vaccination does.”
Regaining the lost designation requires demonstrating at least 36 consecutive months of interrupted endemic transmission. Brazil previously lost its elimination status in 2019 before successfully regaining it in 2024.
Earlier coverage: US Nears Loss of Measles Elimination Status Amid 5,100 Cases
