Ace Health Desk – The United States is on the brink of losing its measles elimination status after more than 25 years. Losing measles elimination status would be mostly symbolic, but it marks a step back for public health The Hill Health News Report: & CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks Published: Sat.Nov.14: 2026
According to the latest release of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 5,400 confirmed measles infections nationwide, more than twice that of last year’s.
New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have all reported their first measles-related deaths in decades this year, with 10 deathsreported by the states.
The CDC’s total currently only reflects six deaths, with the agency having switched from relying on states to official death certificate data, which takes longer to confirm.
Elimination status means that there have been no sustained instances of measles transmission for 12 months or more. The rising infections have been driven by declining vaccination rates; the national MMR vaccination rate in school-age children reached a new low of 92.4% in the 2025-2026 school year, with 39 states reporting rates that fall below the 95% target threshold.
To lose elimination status, measles must be spreading for 12 months or more, which passed in January of this year.
The U.S. first achieved measles elimination status in 2000, with infection rates falling significantly after the two-dose measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was adopted at the national level in 1989.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has been reviewing the nation’s status this week, and the result is all but certain. Canada lost its own measles elimination status one year ago and has since been working with PAHO on regaining it.
In a statement on Thursday, the Infectious Disease Society of America called the formal loss of the country’s elimination status a “tragedy.”
“The expected loss of America’s status as having eradicated measles will be a tragedy because it reflects the preventable loss of human lives. It is unthinkable that people in the United States should be dying from measles in 2026,”
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