Declining Vaccination Rates Largely to Blame for Measles Surge in the U.S.
While public health experts are rightfully focused on determining the cause of the Cyclospora outbreak, cases of measles are also exploding across the U.S. With five months still left in the year, the number of confirmed measles cases in the U.S. has already surpassed last year's cases. Here is the latest on this concerning situation.
Measles Cases Eclipse Last Year's Total
Measles cases are surging across the U.S., raising alarm bells in the medical community. As of July 23, there have been about 2,318 confirmed measles cases resulting from 35 different outbreaks. At least 43 states and Washington, D.C. have seen cases since the beginning of 2026. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the cases have led to 151 reported hospitalizations but no deaths.
Roughly 93% of the cases have happened in unvaccinated people. Almost 69% of the cases have been in children aged 19 and younger.
The number of cases so far this year is the highest number of cases notched in the U.S. since the disease was officially eradicated almost 30 years ago. The previous high-water mark for cases happened just last year, when there were 2,289 confirmed infections. Almost 90% of the cases in 2025 were tracked back to 48 known outbreaks. Similar to this year, the overwhelming majority of the cases were in unvaccinated individuals. Three people died last year from the highly contagious disease.
South Carolina is currently leading the nation in confirmed measles cases with 670. Utah is right behind them at 522. Other states experiencing surges of cases include Arizona, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the CDC, issued a statement that said that "Crossing this threshold is a tragic reminder that measles has made an alarming comeback in the United States."
Understanding the Symptoms and Complications of Measles
While measles is extremely contagious, it is also mostly preventable through the use of a vaccine. The disease is triggered by a virus that most often impacts children. The World Health Organization (WHO) details that the measles infection first affects the respiratory tract before spreading to the rest of the body.
In addition to the telltale sign of a rash or bumps on the skin, the most commonly observed symptoms of measles are a high fever, cough, watery eyes, and runny nose. These symptoms generally appear seven to 14 days after the initial exposure.
The virus is so infectious that approximately 90% of exposed people who are not vaccinated end up coming down with it. Of that number, about 20% require hospitalization.
The good news is that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is highly effective at protecting against the virus. With an efficacy rate of about 97%, this vaccine is the gold standard of prevention. The vaccine is typically given to children in two doses. The first dose is administered between the ages of 12 and 15 months, while the second dose is given between the ages of four and six.
Unfortunately, the rate of MMR vaccination has fallen in recent years in the U.S. Health professionals consider herd immunity to be in effect when over 95% of a community's population is vaccinated. This level of immunity is critical, as it provides protection for individuals who cannot safely get the vaccine.
However, more and more states are now falling below this notable level of herd immunity protection. According to the CDC, vaccination coverage among children entering kindergarten in the U.S. fell from 92.5% during the 2019 - 2020 school year to just 92.1% during the 2024 - 2025 academic year. This figure is well under the standard needed to provide herd immunity.
It is not unusual for outbreaks to occur in communities with large numbers of unvaccinated people. For example, an under-vaccinated Mennonite community was blamed for an outbreak in Texas in 2025.
Explaining the Falling Vaccination Rates
Why are vaccination numbers falling and cases rising in the U.S.? Public health experts believe that the growing anti-vaccine movement is contributing to the lack of immunization coverage. The anti-vaccine movement gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic as Americans pushed back against mandated vaccines.
This vaccine hesitancy increased even more when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Kennedy is a known vaccine skeptic who has also advocated for cures and preventative measures that have no medical backing.
The U.S. is now in danger of losing its vaccine elimination status. The WHO defines this status as being free from the continuous spread of the disease for at least one year.
An offshoot of the WHO known as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is scheduled to review the measles elimination status of the U.S. and Mexico in November. This agency is responsible for tracking infectious diseases across the Americas. The PAHO has already removed Canada's elimination status last year. The organization said that the U.S. is being reviewed due to the prevalence of the 2025 outbreaks.
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