Overview
- A Pan American Health Organization expert committee concluded on Saturday that the United States no longer meets measles-free criteria because the same measles strain has circulated continuously for at least 12 months.
- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 5,412 confirmed cases this year through November 12, making 2026 the largest U.S. measles outbreak in more than 35 years.
- Recent deaths linked to the outbreak include New York’s first measles death in about 30 years and an infant death in Wisconsin, highlighting serious human consequences of the spread.
- Vaccination coverage has fallen below the herd-immunity threshold with kindergarten MMR rates at 92.4%, down from 95.2% six years earlier, while WHO guidance calls for about 95% two-dose coverage to prevent sustained spread.
- Public-health officials blame rising vaccine hesitancy and policy changes for widening immunity gaps, and regaining the designation will require interrupting transmission now and demonstrating 12 months without endemic spread, a step that will shape federal and state responses.