Health Care · Report · File No. 261114-140
U.S. loses measles elimination status after a year of continuous spread, researchers say
The Pan American Health Organization has concluded that measles is spreading regularly in the U.S. again, according to researchers who spoke to KFF Health News. A public announcement is planned for Nov. 17, and the finding ends a status the country held for 25 years.
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The United States has lost its status as a country that has eliminated measles, a public health achievement secured a quarter century ago, KFF Health News reported Saturday. Researchers with direct knowledge of the deliberations told the outlet that the Pan American Health Organization reached that conclusion this week 1. The group, which oversees health in the Americas and works with the World Health Organization, had planned a public announcement on Nov. 17 1.
Under public health rules, elimination depends on a country's sporadic outbreaks ending within a year. That is no longer happening here 1. Stateline reported Friday that a PAHO expert panel was still reviewing the cases 2.
The numbers behind the decision
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) counted 5,412 confirmed measles cases this year as of Nov. 12. That is more than double the 2,289 cases in all of 2025 2. Cases have turned up in 47 states, plus Washington, D.C., and New York City 2.
Of this year's cases, 96% involve people who are unvaccinated, and 591 people, or 11%, were hospitalized 2. The CDC has confirmed six measles deaths, while states have reported 13 measles-associated deaths over two years, including infants in New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin 12. Johns Hopkins University researchers estimate the outbreaks have cost about $125 million 1.
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It’s a very sad moment
Who is blamed, and who disagrees
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson, Emily Hilliard, said the resurgence stems from vaccination gaps that opened years before this administration. Childhood vaccination rates have fallen steadily since the covid pandemic began 1.
Many scientists also fault the Trump administration. They point to vaccine misinformation and a weak response to outbreaks, and note that it cut millions of dollars from children's immunization programs run by state health departments 1. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. falsely claimed on Fox News that measles vaccines lead to “deaths every year,” KFF reported 1.
The White House defended its record. Spokesperson Allison Schuster wrote that the president and Kennedy “have repeatedly encouraged measles vaccination” 1.
What happens next
Dr. Ali Khan of the University of Nebraska Medical Center said losing the status does not change conditions on the ground. He said the real message is that leaders must fund and promote public health work in communities 2.
Measles has always been the sort of ultimate stress test for public health infrastructure
Dr. Susan Kansagra, of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said major federal public health grants and pandemic-era funds expire at the end of next year 2.
That matters because measles is preventable. Two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine prevent about 97% of infections, and 39 states now have rates below the 95% level needed for herd immunity 12.
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Sources
- KFF Health News, “US Has Lost Measles Elimination Status, Global Health Authorities Say” (2026-11-14). kffhealthnews.org/public-health/us-measles-elimination-statu
- Stateline, “US poised to lose its 'measles elimination status' after more than 25 years” (2026-11-13). stateline.org/2026/11/13/us-poised-to-lose-its-measles-elimi
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More from the files
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The Pan American Health Organization will weigh whether the U.S. loses its measles-free status after a year of outbreaks. Wisconsin also reported an infant's measles death, the state's first in more than 30 years.
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