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2w ago

WHO Confirms Global Measles Resurgence as Canada Loses Elimination and U.S. Status Is at Risk

Lagging two-dose coverage plus weakened surveillance leave immunity gaps.

A drone view shows people lining up to be vaccinated in Mexico City in response to a measles outbreak on Nov. 12, 2025.
BOWIE,MD - AUGUST 14: Afra Brown, Regional School Health Specialist, takes the sign down at the end of the clinic. A vaccine clinic was held at Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, MD on August 13, 2025. Prince George's County Public Schools, partnering with the County Health Department, is offering vaccine clinics for K12 students. As parents embark on the scramble to ensure their children's vaccines are up to date before the first day of school, this year they are also weighing mixed messages coming from the Trump administration about vaccine recommendations. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine advisers plan to review the effects of routine vaccines such as measles, mumps and rubella, polio and pertussis that are currently required for public school attendance. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
A nurse administers a dose of the measles vaccine to a man during a vaccination campaign in response to a measles outbreak, at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario in Mexico City, Mexico, November 12, 2025. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
Children receive a measles vaccine from a member of the Mexican Army during a vaccination campaign in response to a measles outbreak in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in August. Routine vaccine coverage has fallen in many parts of the world, according to the World Health Organization.

Overview

  • WHO’s latest assessment estimates 11 million infections in 2024 and 59 countries with large outbreaks, even as deaths fell to about 95,000 after long-term vaccination gains.
  • Global protection remains below the 95% needed to interrupt spread, with 84% receiving a first dose and 76% a second in 2024, leaving roughly 30 million children underprotected.
  • Canada was judged to have lost measles elimination in November 2025 after more than 12 months of continuous transmission, and outbreaks expanded across the Americas this year.
  • The United States recorded 1,798 cases across 42 states and three deaths in 2025, and it has until January 20, 2026 to halt sustained transmission linked to a West Texas outbreak to retain elimination status.
  • WHO cautions that funding cuts to the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network and national immunization programs are undermining surveillance, calling measles a “fire alarm” for wider vaccine-preventable disease risks.