on PinterestThe United States recorded a 33-year high in measles cases in 2025, the highest level of U.S. measles cases since 1992.
on PinterestThe United States recorded a 33-year high in measles cases in 2025, the highest level of U.S. measles cases since 1992.
Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images
- The United States is at risk of losing its measles elimination status, which it has held since 2000.
- The designation may be revoked because in 2025, the U.S. experienced its highest number of measles cases since 1992.
- Experts say the upward trend may continue in 2026 due to vaccination hesitancy and conflicting messaging from federal health officials.
The United States may soon lose its measles exemption status, which it has held for the past quarter-century.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), an arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), is scheduled to evaluate U.S. measles data sometime in 2026.
In November 2025, PAHO officials announced that Canada had lost its measles exemption status due to ongoing outbreaks.
The U.S. measles exemption status has been in place since 2000, when only 86 cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
By mid-January 2026, the CDC had confirmed 171 measles cases in 9 U.S. jurisdictions: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.
So far, no cases among international visitors to the United States have been reported.
The bulk of these cases have occurred in South Carolina, where 145 cases were reported to the CDC as of January 13. Since October, 585 measles cases were confirmed in the state.
In 2025, the United States recorded a 33-year high in measles cases, with the CDC confirming 2,242 cases nationwide. That was the highest level of U.S. measles cases since 1992.
CDC officials reported that 89% of the 2025 cases were associated with 49 outbreaks in various regions of the country.
About a quarter of the cases were in children under 5 years of age. About 93% of cases occurred in unvaccinated people or those with unknown vaccination status.
Three deaths and 245 hospitalizations were attributed to the measles outbreaks.
Nathan Lo, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University, said there’s a simple explanation for the sharp rise in measles cases in the United States.
“Measles cases were high in 2025 due to declining vaccination in the U.S. and high measles circulation globally,” Lo told Healthline.
Lo said the trend indicates that measles cases will continue their upward trend this year.
“So far, measles cases continue to demonstrate sustained circulation in the U.S., which suggests the U.S. will have another year of high measles cases,” he continued.
Federal health officials appeared to downplay the continued spread of measles.
CDC principal deputy director Ralph Abraham claimed that the ongoing spread is “just the cost of doing business,” suggesting transmission was inevitable due to international travel to and from the United States.
Why are measles cases rising?
Experts say there is a simple reason why measles can spread so rapidly
It’s one of the most contagious diseases on the planet.
“It’s unbelievably contagious. It’s the most contagious disease we’ve ever seen,” said Danelle Fisher, MD, a pediatrician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.
She noted that people with measles can
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