US loses measles-free status after 26 years as 2026 cases top 5,400

Status lost after 26 years

The United States has lost its status as a country that eliminated measles, a designation it had held since 2000. Reports citing CNN and the Wall Street Journal say an independent expert commission reporting to the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) concluded the country no longer meets the requirements. Rzeczpospolita, citing Reuters, says the panel deliberated for three days in Washington and that PAHO did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The commission reportedly found the virus has circulated continuously in the US for more than 12 months. Courrier international reports the decision has not yet been made official, with PAHO expected to announce it on 17 November.

Cases and deaths

Rzeczpospolita, citing CDC data reported by Axios, puts confirmed measles cases in 2026 at 5,412, against 2,289 for the whole of 2025. Il Fatto Quotidiano describes the 2026 total as the highest in 35 years, while Adnkronos reports more than 5,400 cases. Five deaths were recorded in November alone in Pennsylvania, New York and Wisconsin, linked to separate outbreaks. Courrier international, citing The Washington Post, counts ten measles deaths across several states in 2026, seven of them in Pennsylvania. Rzeczpospolita reports more than 1,500 cases in Pennsylvania, with six deaths linked to the disease there. Experts warn the true scale may be larger because many mild infections are never diagnosed.

2025 (full year)2,289

2026 (CDC figure cited 14 November)5,412

2025 (full year)

2289 cases

2026 (CDC figure cited 14 November)

5412 cases

Data from the article text

Coverage slipping and warnings for Italy

Adnkronos reports that measles, mumps and rubella vaccination coverage among US children fell from 95.2% to 92.4% over the past six years. Massimo Andreoni, a member of Italy's Consiglio superiore di sanita and emeritus professor of infectious diseases at Tor Vergata University in Rome, told ANSA that the decision is a serious setback with global consequences. He warned that the measles virus is highly contagious and that greater circulation worldwide raises the risk inside individual countries.

“A huge step backward, which implies a global risk not limited to the US: the measles virus is highly infectious.”

Andreoni linked the outbreak to a spreading distrust of science and vaccines, which he said is now costing children in the US their lives. He also said Italy is seeing a decline in booster vaccinations, and he called the US situation a warning for Italy.

“An attitude of distrust toward science and vaccines is spreading.”

Adnkronos reports that the WHO estimates 95,000 people died of measles in 2024, most of them children under five, and that the WHO has set 2030 as the target for global elimination.

Other countries and political reaction

Before the PAHO decision, Canada was the only country in the region still classed as endemic for measles, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. Courrier international reports that the United Kingdom and other European countries lost their elimination status during 2026. Rzeczpospolita reports that experts point to falling trust in vaccination and to the health policy of the Trump administration as causes of the resurgence. Courrier international reports that some critics of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. see the decision as a rebuke of him, given his decades of doubts about vaccine safety. Last year the US had already been placed one step below endemic status, with experts describing elimination as maintained but under serious concern.

What happens next

Courrier international says PAHO is expected to announce the revocation on 17 November, while the Wall Street Journal reported the decision before any official notice. Rzeczpospolita notes that PAHO had not responded to a request for comment at the time of its report. The timeline below marks the dates given in the reports.