Overview
- PAHO’s regional verification experts determined Canada had uninterrupted measles transmission for 12 months, removing its measles-free designation.
- With one country losing certification, the Region of the Americas no longer holds measles elimination status, according to PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa.
- This year’s reported tolls include Canada with 5,138 cases and two infant deaths, the United States with 1,681 cases across 44 outbreaks, and Chihuahua, Mexico with 4,430 cases and 21 deaths.
- Genetic sequencing links viruses circulating in Canada to outbreaks in Texas and Chihuahua, with transmission documented in some cross-border Mennonite communities.
- Officials caution that U.S. elimination status is at risk as outbreaks continue in multiple states, and they urge rapid vaccination to approach the roughly 95% coverage needed to halt spread.