The number of U.S. measles cases is about to exceed the total for all of last year – and it’s only July.
There are now 2,260 confirmed cases in 44 states and the District of Columbia, according to the latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
2025 was the worst year for measles in America in over three decades. There were 2,289 cases and three deaths.
The majority of cases are in young, unvaccinated children and teenagers, and doctors have blamed vaccine hesitancy on recent spikes. The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is 97 percent effective in preventing illness.
Without it, measles infections can lead to life-threatening brain swelling, pneumonia, fever, ear infections and a rash.
Fortunately, no patient has died from measles this year.
More than 30 outbreaks have been reported this year, with the largest number of cases in South Carolina, Utah and Texas.
In South Carolina, the measles outbreak was declared over in April following 997 cases, including some from last year. Most cases were reported in the state’s northern Spartanburg County and an evangelical community, according to The New York Times.
And an outbreak in Utah has led to 707 cases, state data shows. That outbreak has not ended, but infections have been slowing, health officials say. Only six cases have been diagnosed in the last three weeks.
Although, how long that remains the case is anyone’s guess.
“It’s still here, it’s still transmitting,” Utah state epidemiologist Leisha Nolen recently told The Associated Press. “We just need those few cases to hit the wrong community and it could flare up really big again.”
Texas, the epicenter of measles’ major return in Trump’s second term, has seen 182 cases this year. The West Texas outbreak that jumpstarted cases has ended, but cases spread in federal detention facilities, The Texas Tribune reported.
All three of those states have vaccine coverage lower than the 95 percent required for community immunity to the virus, CDC data shows.
The ramp up in cases means that the U.S. could lose its longstanding measles elimination status.
Held since 2000, the elimination status means that there has not been continuous spread of the infectious disease for more than a year.
The status was earned as more and more Americans were vaccinated.
A meeting to decide if the status has been lost is expected to take place in November.
