The U.S. has already logged more measles cases in 2026 than it did in all of 2025, CDC data shows.
Five things to know:
- As of July 24, the U.S. had recorded 2,318 confirmed measles cases in 2026. In 2025, there were 2,289 measles cases, marking a sharp increase from 285 the year prior, CDC data shows.
- This year’s total represents the highest measles caseload the country has seen since 1991, when 9,643 cases were reported — a 35-year high driven by ongoing, overlapping outbreaks across the nation. The sustained transmission has also put the country’s measles elimination status, first certified in 2000, at risk.
- The resurgence comes amid declining vaccination rates against the disease. National MMR vaccination coverage among kindergartners dropped from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.5% in 2024-2025, according to the CDC, leaving roughly 286,000 kindergartners without protection.
- As of July 24, 93% of confirmed cases involve people who are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status, CDC data shows.
- About 7% of 2026’s confirmed cases — 151 people — have required hospitalization, down from an 11% hospitalization rate across all of 2025, according to CDC data. No measles deaths have been reported in 2026, compared with three in 2025.
