US measles cases surge to highest since disease was ‘eliminated'
It's a massive public health setback that comes amid falling childhood vaccination rates and a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment fueled by lingering COVID-era distrust in public health authorities and a strengthening anti-vaccine movement.
Just halfway through the year, at least 1,288 cases have been confirmed across 38 states and the District of Columbia, according to CDC data.
That's the most since 1992 and surpasses the previous record of 1,274 cases from all of 2019. Experts say this year's cases are likely severely undercounted because many are going unreported.
There have been at least 155 hospitalizations and three confirmed deaths from measles this year, including two otherwise healthy but unvaccinated children in Texas. A third death was reported in New Mexico in an unvaccinated adult who tested positive after dying.
Only three measles-related deaths were reported between 2001 and 2024, according to the CDC.
Measles was officially eliminated in 2000 due to a highly effective vaccination program, meaning there has not been continuous transmission for more than a year at a time. The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is 97 percent effective after two doses.
But vaccinations have waned, and experts warn elimination status could be threatened.
According to the CDC, MMR vaccination coverage among kindergarteners is below the 95 percent target — and is much lower in some communities. And it's decreasing. During the 2023-24 school year, less than 93 percent of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine.
According to the most recent CDC data, 92 percent of measles cases in 2025 have been in people who were either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
The biggest outbreak in the country has been in West Texas, predominantly centered among members of a local Mennonite community. Officials have recorded 790 cases this year statewide, though the true number is likely much higher. While that outbreak has been slowing, it has also spread to bordering states.
In Gaines County, the center of the Texas outbreak, just 82 percent of the kindergarten population received the MMR vaccine last year.
Public health efforts to combat the outbreak have been complicated by mixed messages from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has downplayed the severity of the disease, offered only muted support for vaccines and touted fringe theories about prevention and treatment like vitamin A, steroids and antibiotics.
The Trump administration's funding cuts to state health departments have also played a role, experts said.
'HHS continues to support community efforts in dealing with the measles outbreaks. CDC continues to provide technical assistance, laboratory support, and vaccines as requested,' an agency spokesman said in a statement to The Hill.
'CDC continues to recommend MMR vaccines as the best way to protect against measles,' the statement said, but 'the decision to vaccinate is a personal one.'
The agency recommended people consult with their healthcare provider so they can be informed 'about the potential risks and benefits associated with vaccines.'
According to CDC, there have been at least 27 total measles outbreaks — defined as three or more related cases — and at least 38 states have reported at least one case this year.
Many of the nationwide clusters seem to be linked to travel, often with an unvaccinated person catching the virus abroad and then spreading it among unvaccinated community members.
A CDC official told a group of vaccine advisers in April that more than 90 percent of the cases are 'driven by transmission in close-knit, undervaccinated communities.'
The 2019 outbreak was driven largely by spread among undervaccinated Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City and Rockland County that had long been targets of the anti-vaccine movement.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles to up to 9 out of 10 susceptible close contacts, according to the CDC.
Updated at 4:28 p.m. An initial version of this article was published at 1:01 p.m. July 7 based on data from Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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