Measles cases in the United States hit a record high not seen since 1991, nearly a decade before the virus was declared extinct.
The tragic milestone comes amid a generational setback in controlling the highly contagious disease, which before the vaccine era caused millions of infections a year, and annually left 400 to 500 people dead, 1,000 with brain swelling, and 48,000 hospitalizations.
Last year, the US recorded three measles deaths – the first since 2015, and the first among children since 2003. The deaths last year were two unvaccinated school children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.
So far this year, there have been 2,318 reported cases of measles nationwide, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's higher than any other calendar year since a significant nationwide measles epidemic between 1989 and 1991 resulted in 55,365 cases over three years – 17,914 in 1989; 27,808 in 1990; and 9,643 in 1991.
“By mid-2026 the US is facing its worst measles year since 1991. We are seeing an avoidable crisis that is disproportionately affecting children,” said Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in a statement Friday. “These thousands of cases represent real people in communities across the country, including hospitalized infants with pneumonia.
“After decades of measles control, the country now faces ongoing outbreaks starting in January 2025. We must not accept this as our new normal. Unless we reverse this trend, America's children will continue to pay the price,” Racine said.
Health experts expect the US to lose its national measles “eradicated” status, a status achieved in 2000, which means the absence of persistently transmitted disease for more than a year. Canada lost its status last year, and, according to the World Health Organization, Mexico is among the top 10 countries in the world with measles outbreaks.
Nationally, measles vaccination rates have fallen, falling below the 95% that experts say is necessary to prevent the spread of the disease. In the 2024-25 school year, only 92.5% of preschoolers received the measles vaccine, down from 95.2% in the 2019-20 school year, according to the CDC. More than half of the states decreased their measles vaccinations compared to last year, the CDC said.
Measles vaccination rates in California among preschoolers remain above the 95% threshold. By 2024-25, 96.1% of California preschoolers will be vaccinated against measles. But there are some regions where vaccination rates are below the target; in Southern California, they include San Diego and San Bernardino counties, which have measles vaccination rates of 93.7% among preschoolers, and Kern County, which has a rate of 89.3%.
Other counties with rates below 95% are Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Nevada, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Sutter and Tuolumne.
Of the measles cases reported nationally this year, 93% were in people who were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, the CDC said. Of those infected, 49% are between the ages of 5 and 19 and 20% are under the age of 5. More than 150 measles patients this year had to be hospitalized.
Several measles outbreaks have spread to California this year: one in Riverside County, involving three infected people in one family; one in Shasta County, infected nine people in a church group; and outbreaks in Sacramento County and neighboring Placer County.
The rise in measles comes at a time when the national health agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, is headed by a vaccinator, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Earlier this year, Kennedy defended his record, telling a congressional committee that “there's a measles epidemic all over the world. We've done a better job of stopping it than any country in the world.” His critics alleged that Kennedy's message caused public skepticism about the policies.
“The anti-vaccination rhetoric you've run and the anti-vaccination measures you've taken over the past year are clearly consistent with the dramatic increase, again, in preventable diseases,” said Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Whittier) told Kennedy at a House committee meeting.
Kennedy said he is not a vaccine.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has accused state leaders of underestimating the dangers of measles and providing false information about the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
“Since the beginning of last year, the organization's leaders have dismissed measles as dangerous and unavoidable and spread misleading information about the MMR vaccine,” Racine said. “Today, I would like to remind parents that measles is not just a rash, but this virus can disrupt the memory of the immune system, leaving a previously healthy child at a greater risk of getting sick from any type of infection.
“Skipping or delaying the MMR vaccine is dangerous because pediatricians cannot predict which children will develop severe measles symptoms or who may end up in the hospital,” said Racine.
