US measles cases hit 4,588, more than double last year
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The gist
The CDC reported 4,588 confirmed US measles cases, more than double last year's 2,289.
The US may lose its measles elimination status, held since 2000, next month.
Background
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the federal agency whose weekly update provides the national measles case count. Measles was declared officially eliminated in the United States in 2000, and the 4,588 cases now reported exceed the 465 recorded nationwide from 2022 through 2024 combined. Pennsylvania, with 1,338 cases across 44 counties, accounts for nearly 30% of the national total and has reported six deaths since August 25. The US is expected to lose its elimination status when the Pan American Health Organization reviews the data next month.
How it unfolded
- Oct 10, 2026A 39-year-old unvaccinated woman in Franklin County, Pennsylvania died; the county coroner recorded it as a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of measles, the sixth death in the state's outbreak.
- Oct 22, 2026The CDC reported 4,588 confirmed US measles cases, up 178 (4.0%) week-over-week from 4,410, with 43 outbreaks in 2026 and 479 hospitalizations (10%).
- Oct 23, 2026The CDC's latest update put confirmed cases at 4,588, more than double last year's total, with 508 cases added over the past two weeks. Pennsylvania reported 78 new cases over seven days and 1,338 for the year across 44 counties.
- Oct 23, 2026State totals included Kentucky at 197 cases for the year, Ohio at 262, Wisconsin at 310 and New York at 162, up from 126 the previous week; Utah had gone three weeks without a case and South Carolina's outbreak was declared over in late April.
- Oct 24, 2026The US was reported to be expected to lose the measles elimination status it has held since 2000 when the Pan American Health Organization reviews the data next month.
Who’s saying what
- Expert
- Dr. Todd Ellerin of South Shore Health said the US has the right vaccine, that measles spreads because people are not accepting it, and that "in 2026, measles should be in our history books, not our hospitals."
- Expert
- Andrew Pavia, a pediatric infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Utah, said early and intense action is needed but resources are lacking, and that "our politicians are waging warfare and lawfare against public health, against vaccines, against science."
- Caution
- Pavia also said that because of underreporting the true number of US cases since the beginning of last year is "probably greater than 20,000," and that "we are going to see the consequences for years to come."
Still unverified
The sixth Pennsylvania death is under investigation: Coroner Jordan Conner recorded it as a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of measles, and the state Department of Health says it is reviewing the case. The CDC has counted only three deaths nationally for 2026, each marked with an asterisk, will not say in which states they occurred, and says the count is subject to change as reviews are completed. Pavia's estimate that actual US cases since the beginning of last year are "probably greater than 20,000" is attributed to underreporting.